The Ohio Treasurer’s race is one that Democrats were thought to have a chance of winning last night.
But as Ohio Public Radio’s Jo Ingles reports, that didn’t happen.
Democrat Connie Pillich finished the race with only half a million dollars less than Republican State Treasurer Josh Mandel. And Mandel was thought to be weak because Ben Suarez, a northeast Ohio businessman and donor to Mandel’s campaign, had been caught up in a controversy over alleged illegal donations, and because Mandel hadn’t campaigning aggressively at all. But in the end, Ohio voters returned Mandel to office by a margin of 57% to 43% over Pillich.
Mandel “We ran our campaign with mostly positive ads and we projected a message about how we have improved the state’s finances and I think the people of Ohio recognize that.”
For her part, Pillich talked about pursuing Democratic values in the future.
Pillich “We are going to make sure Ohio is a place where every family doesn’t have to live paycheck to paycheck and where every child has a future and the chance to achieve the American dream. Because that’s what democracy looks like, that’s what the Democratic party looks like in Ohio and we are going to move this state forward.”
Pillich, a current Ohio House member, couldn’t run for re-election and for treasurer too, so she will lose her seat at the end of this year.
