COLUMBUS, OHIO ? He’s the Republican governor of Ohio whose job is to deliver the state for George W. Bush in November. She’s the Democratic governor of Kansas and daughter of a former Ohio Democratic governor.

Ohio’s Bob Taft and Kansas’ Kathleen Sebelius, linked by their hometown of Cincinnati but divided by party, meet Friday in Columbus to settle a bet over the Fiesta Bowl by serving breakfast to poor schoolchildren.

No politics will be discussed, Taft predicted.

“We’ll be talking about making sure all our kids are well-fed when they go to school,” he said.

Sebelius’ father, former Democratic Gov. John Gilligan, isn’t sure the pair can avoid politics.

“They’re both political animals. They’ve been involved most of their adult lives in the political swim,” said Gilligan, 83, who now serves on the Cincinnati city school board.

The governors had challenged each other to serve meals at a local homeless shelter or soup kitchen.

No. 7 Ohio State beat the eighth-ranked Kansas Wildcats 35-28 on Jan. 2.

To pay off her bet, Sebelius is helping serve breakfast at Kent Elementary School, an inner city school where Taft has tutored students as part of his OhioReads program.

The event is sponsored by the Children’s Hunger Alliance and includes Ohio State University President Karen Holbrook and some Ohio State football players.

Sebelius’ brother, Columbus attorney John P. Gilligan, is a member of the hunger alliance’s board and helped arrange the visit.

“We had a friendly, very competitive bet,” Taft said. “I’m just glad I don’t have to go to Kansas.”

As state leaders, the governors have shared interests that transcend the presidential race, said Nicole Corcoran, a Sebelius spokeswoman.

“She’s a Democrat, he’s a Republican, they both come from different camps but face a lot of the same issues,” she said Thursday. “I probably don’t think they’ll spend a lot of time on national politics.”

Sebelius and Taft have known each other for decades. Both are from Cincinnati, where Taft’s father Robert A. Taft Jr. successfully ousted Sebelius’ father in a 1966 congressional race. The elder Taft went on to serve one term in the U.S. Senate.

Gilligan was Ohio governor from 1971-75, sandwiched between the two eight-year terms of Republican Jim Rhodes. Gilligan lost his seat after overseeing the introduction of Ohio’s income tax.

Both are considered moderates within their party, although obvious differences divide them.

For example, Sebelius last week vetoed the latest version of a bill allowing Kansans to carry concealed weapons. Taft signed Ohio’s bill into law in January.

“I don’t think either is going to convert the other,” said Sebelius’ father, the former governor.

The chairman of the Ohio Republican Party said politics might take a back seat to the two leaders’ common interests in state issues.

“Governors are a strange breed,” said GOP chairman Robert Bennett. “They hang together regardless of party affiliation.”