Sorry, couldn't resist. ;>)
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
Um, WTF ? This was STOLEN !
No doubt. I was surprised it was this close in the end.
Another day, another Democrat day for election theft. This country can’t take much more of this.
Redistricting may eliminate a district from Ohio and also the state will be redistricted. It really depends on who writes the new districts.
The OSU influence in UA is huge.
...the downside of running a guy nominated by Democrats at the top of the Republican ticket.
The good news is that off-year elections tend to go against the incumbents. And we’ve already started a nice trend against The Messiah.
When the wave hits, all those close districts go one way or the other. This year and in 2006 they went the other way but the next two lean towards us. We just need a candidate who is a recognizable Republican and as conservative as possible.
Retribution for New Orleans. Stivers never lost his lead until this farce. Brunner is a criminal.
Maybe, but UA used to be solidly republican. Not so any more. Lot’s of Obama signs this year.
I remember loads of Kerry signs four years ago.
That is a fact. And getting Highway Patrol protection to the tune of over $50k because she's shaking in her boots.
She was an incredibly rotten judge in Franklin County before her ascension to the throne of election rigging.
Conservative now live in New Albany, Southern Delaware County and Union County.
The upwardly mobile young conservatives buy or build in Hilliard or Dublin, then five years later settle in for the long haul in Delaware and Union counties.
“I don’t think this district is solid dem, but the demos have changed. What has surprised me is democrat support in Upper Arlington. Most of those folks are self made wealthy, yet as they have aged, they have trended dem.”
Yes, and the Kirk Herbsteit Dems who move in from other parts of state and elsewhere.
We eventually moved to Delaware County ourselves to get away from Columbus and Franklin County.
I owned a home in Hilliard, but after my divorce and remarriage, I live near Canal Winchester.
My hope is to land in Fairfield County in a year or two.
Sorry, couldn't resist. ;>)
LOL!
But where is he NOW???
OH has a decidely GOP Legislature with a Dem Governor, sounds like Incumbent-Protection to me...
My guess is, Columbus is currently split in three and is growing fast. I bet the district lost comes up from the North, and they will merely hand all of Democratic Columbus to Kilroy now that there is a Democrat to protect in the area. The Republican seats will move towards the lost seat in the Iron Belt area.
Damn. Where's Mr. Roboto when you need him?
see post 39
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