GOP Declares Victory in Tight Ohio Race

Trump congratulates Balderson on 'great victory'
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 8, 2018 12:44 AM CDT
Updated Aug 8, 2018 6:53 AM CDT
GOP Declares Victory in Tight Ohio Race
Supporters of Danny O'Connor, the Franklin County recorder, react as polling results are reported during an election night watch party at the Ohio Civil Service Employees Association on Tuesday in Westerville, Ohio.   (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

The year's last special election for a House seat was too close to call Tuesday night—but that didn't stop Republicans from declaring victory in an Ohio district they've held since 1983, the Washington Post reports. GOP state Sen. Troy Balderson was 1,754 votes ahead of Danny O'Connor, a Democratic county recorder, late Tuesday, with thousands of provisional votes still uncounted. The official 12th District result could be days away, the Hill reports. Trump, who visited the state to support Balderson Saturday, tweeted that his intervention had helped Balderson win "a great victory during a very tough time of the year for voting." Whatever the final outcome of Tuesday's vote, Balderson and O'Connor will face each other again in November. In other races:

  • Trump-endorsed Iraq veteran John James has won the Republican Senate primary in Michigan, CNN reports. He will face incumbent Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow in November. "Congratulations to a future STAR of the Republican Party, future Senator John James," Trump tweeted.

  • In Washington state, Sen. Maria Cantwell, a Democrat seeking her fourth term, easily made it onto the ballot, the AP reports. She will face former state Republican Party chairwoman Susan Hutchison in November.
  • Josh Hawley, Missouri's Republican attorney general, won a hotly contested primary and will face Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill in November, Vox reports. Polls show McCaskill and Hawley almost even in a race that Republicans see as key to keeping control of the Senate.
  • In Kansas, Republican Gov. Jeff Colyer is in a dead heat with Secretary of State Kris Kobach in the state's gubernatorial primary, the AP reports. Trump endorsed Kobach against the incumbent, though some Republicans fear he could lose to a Democrat in November.
  • Former Michigan state lawmaker Rashida Tlaib is on course to become the first Muslim woman in Congress, HuffPost reports. She won the Democratic primary for the House seat vacated by Rep. John Conyers—and she'll be running unopposed in November in the state's heavily Democratic 13th District.
  • After bruising campaigns, Republican Bill Schuette and Democrat Gretchen Whitmer were declared winners in Michigan's gubernatorial primaries, reports the Detroit Free Press. The second-placed Democrat, Abdul El-Sayed, lost despite the support of progressive stars Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
(More special election stories.)

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