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Whether 12th Congressional District Gives Clues To November's Outcome Depends On Who Is Asked

Ohio Public Radio

Republican Troy Balderson declared victory over Democrat Danny O'Connor Tuesday night in Ohio's 12th Congressional district special election.

Political pundits were watching the race to gauge where voters fall in the current political climate. Ohio Public Radio's Andy Chow looks at what Tuesday's results mean for November. 

The most glaring statistic from the 12th Congressional District’s special election is that it was the closest race this area has seen in a long time.

While it appears Republican State Senator Troy Balderson will ultimately win, Ohio Democratic Party Chair David Pepper says the tight race is signaling good things for his slate of candidates come November.

 

Pepper: “If we can just repeat and mirror the Democratic energy that we saw yesterday where our turnout was above theirs and the moderate, Independent, and in some cases, Republican voters giving good candidates like Danny O’Connor a chance, you project that out all over the state and it’s obviously a big year for us.”

 

Pepper adds that those races will be bolstered by bigger names at the top of the ticket: Rich Cordray running for governor, and U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown running for re-election.

 

Brown has said O’Connor’s performance also proves that voters are in favor of the general Democratic message of protecting health care and social security.

 

However, the Ohio Republican Party and spokesperson Blaine Kelly see it a different way.

 

Kelly: “The results on Tuesday tell us that the people of Ohio, the people of the 12th Congressional district certainly, are happy with the direction President Trump and Republican leadership are taking us and they want to keep it that way.”

 

Kelly argues it would be inaccurate to read too closely into the results since it was a special election.

 

Kelly: “Special elections are special for a reason. Turnout is lower, in the presidential election we had a turnout of 377,000 people in the district, there were 200,000 people who showed up on Tuesday so it’s hard to make that point stick, you know ‘you gotta vote in August, not November.’ People are getting back from vacation, they’re getting their kids ready to go back to school.”

 

The one factor political strategists will take into account nationwide is that of President Donald Trump. As the November midterms approach, Trump is picking out different candidates to stump for. Troy Balderson was one of those candidates - Trump campaigned for him the Saturday before the election in Delaware County.

 

Kelly: “President Trump made all the difference really in those final days really what we saw a big surge in both Delaware and in Licking counties where Vice President Pence had come as well they really helped us bring Troy across the finish line in addition to our incredible ground game.”

  

Trump Tweeted out a statement saying his campaign stop marked a big turnaround for Balderson’s run. He also alluded to the challenge of getting voters to come out in a special election.

  

But Pepper, with the Democrats, says the fact that this race was close at all does not reflect well on Trump.

  

Pepper: “If he feels good about the performance yesterday and thinks that going around the country and having places he campaigns underperform by 25 points is somehow a good sign for him, you know, all power to him.”

 

More than $8 million was poured into this race by the candidates and groups on both sides. It’s possible this tight race might signal to national Democratic groups that O’Connor could have the momentum, leading to more money flowing into Ohio.

 

Kelly counters that by saying O’Connor already spent a lot of money on this race and still came up short.

 

As for Pepper, he’s optimistic about what this could mean for November but he says there’s still a lot of work to do.

  

Pepper: “As a Democrat in Ohio, you’re always running from 20 points down. So no one is sitting around looking at those numbers and thinking, ‘aw you know, hey we got this.’” 

 

Both parties are also taking a close look at the numbers to see how this might impact the Ohio House races that are happening within the seven counties in the 12th district.

 

 

 

 

 

The Statehouse News Bureau was founded in 1980 to provide educational, comprehensive coverage of legislation, elections, issues and other activities surrounding the Statehouse to Ohio's public radio and television stations. To this day, the Bureau remains the only broadcast outlet dedicated to in-depth coverage of state government news and topics of statewide interest. The Bureau is funded througheTech Ohio, and is managed by ideastream. The reporters at the Bureau follow the concerns of the citizens and voters of Ohio, as well as the actions of the Governor, the Ohio General Assembly, the Ohio Supreme Court, and other elected officials. We strive to cover statehouse news, government issues, Ohio politics, and concerns of business, culture and the arts with balance and fairness, and work to present diverse voices and points of view from the Statehouse and throughout Ohio. The three award-winning journalists at the bureau have more than 60 combined years of radio and television experience. They can be heard on National Public Radio and are regular contributors to Morning Edition, All Things Considered and Marketplace. Every weekday, the Statehouse News Bureau produces in-depth news reports forOhio's public radio stations. Those stories are also available on this website, either on the front page or in our archives. Weekly, the Statehouse News Bureau produces a television show from our studios in the Statehouse. The State of Ohio is an unique blend of news, interviews, talk and analysis, and is broadcast on Ohio's public television stations. The Statehouse News Bureau also produces special programming throughout the year, including the Governor's annual State of the State address to the Ohio General Assembly and a five-part year-end review.
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