both TonyRo76 and LasVegasDave.
Posted on 12/07/2008 4:49:59 PM PST by buccaneer81
Kilroy is headed to Congress Democrat defeats Stivers in 15th Congressional District Sunday, December 7, 2008 6:58 PM By James Nash THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH Franklin County Commissioner Mary Jo Kilroy, left, won the seat by 2,311 votes, outside of the 0.5 percent margin to trigger a recount. FILE PHOTO Franklin County Commissioner Mary Jo Kilroy, left, won the seat by 2,311 votes, outside of the 0.5 percent margin to trigger a recount. Now it's official: Mary Jo Kilroy will be going to Washington as the first Democrat to represent any part of Franklin County in Congress in a generation.
Final vote tallies released this evening by the Franklin County Board of Elections show that Kilroy defeated Republican state Sen. Steve Stivers by 2,311 votes out of 304,053, outside of the 0.5 percent margin to trigger a recount.
Kilroy, a Franklin County commissioner who ran unsuccessfully for Congress two years ago, declared victory within an hour of the release of the vote tallies.
"In Washington, I will work together with Democrats, Republicans, and President-elect Obama to tackle the real problems that our community faces. Over the next few days I will be in contact with Rep. Deborah Pryce to begin a smooth transition so that no constituent services are delayed during these tough economic times."
Pryce defeated Kilroy by 1,062 votes after a recount in 2006.
Stivers is conceding the race and will not request a recount, spokesman Rob Nichols said.
Stivers issued a statement in which he thanked his wife, Karen, and volunteers for their support.
"While I am extremely proud of the race I ran, ultimately, is was not enough," Stivers said. "I have called Commissioner Kilroy to congratulate her for her hard-fought victory, and I wish her well in Washington."
Kilroy, a Franklin County commissioner, picked up a lopsided majority of provisional ballots counted by the Franklin County Board of Elections over the weekend after a court ruling Friday afternoon.
The counting was delayed by a legal dispute over about 1,000 provisional ballots that voters had failed to sign or where they had put their signatures in the wrong place. The Ohio Supreme Court sided with Stivers in ordering the ballots to be discarded.
Kilroy, however, got 52 percent of the provisional ballots that were counted, compared with 38 percent for Stivers. Provisional votes often are cast by first-time and transitory voters and generally skew Democratic.
Kilroy ended up with 45.91 percent of the overall vote compared to 45.15 percent for Stivers. Libertarian Mark Noble, independent Don Elijah Eckhart and write-in votes accounted for the rest.
Kilroy is scheduled to comment on the outcome at 8 p.m.
The 15 t h Congressional District covers western Franklin County and all of Madison and Union counties and hasn't been represented by a Democrat since the 1960s. No part of Franklin County has had a Democratic member of Congress since 1982.
jnash@dispatch.com
OH Dems are becoming as corrupt as the Republicans they replaced. The Dem AG and SoS allow voter fraud. Plus they use state resources to investigate Joe the Plumber. Total outrage. The OH-15 is a classic bell weather district. Bush barely carried it on 2000 and 2004. Considering how sharply OH turned to the Dem side in recent years, it was remarkable Stivers was competitive.
Not any more. The 'Rats took over the House side of the state government. OH mostly mirrors the national trend, going left. We have a 'Rat governor who absolutely slaughtered a trueconservativeTM in '06, and basically took over all of the state's elected posts (which is why you have 'Rat operatives in government running background checks on ordinary citizens who question The Holy Messiah Obomba). The 'Rats now outnumber 'Pubs in the Congressional delegation.
The state has turned blue, no question about it. Unemployment is going through the roof and jobs are leaving the state in droves, but the Governor spends a huge amount of time on the campaign trail turning handsprings for Obomba. It's turning into a twin of Michigan from an economic and political viewpoint.
Wow! I missed that one!
That means between 2004 and 2008 the Ohio House went from 60 Republicans and 39 Democrats to 53 Democrats and 46 Republicans. Thats a swing of 14 Seats! WOW.
At the Least the Senate is still overwhelming Republican. That should hold up the Dem’s takin over the Redistricting Process by themselves.
My hope is that the state loses some congressional seats after the 2010 census. Maybe a place like LA or TX can gain some. But I have to be careful on that wish, too. Some of the southern states are also turning blue (e.g., NC, FL, and VA).
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