State Auditor Mary Taylor has largely stayed out of the limelight during her first year in office.

Though it may seem strange behavior for a politician, Taylor is representing a party that is trying to regain its reputation as responsible after being toppled by scandal.

The only nonjudicial statewide Republican elected official other than U.S. Sen. George Voinovich, Taylor has kept a relatively unknown, unheralded position just that.

She's touted an improved internal audit system and bringing more efficiency to the delivery of Medicaid services _ hardly items that Democrats would jump on. She's the first certified public accountant to hold the state's top accounting job.

The state Republican Party now finds itself the underdog after years of dominating the top political positions in the state capital. Taylor holds a seat on the state's Apportionment Board, the crucial target for both political parties because of its authority to draw state legislative districts in 2011 to the controlling party's advantage. She intends to seek a second term in 2010.