Ohio, Kansas elections too close to call, still Trump claims win
WESTERVILLE, OHIO — Two highstakes elections that tested President Donald Trump’s clout and cost both parties millions of dollars were too close to call on Wednesday. Trump claimed victory in one nevertheless and proclaimed himself “5 for 5” for Tuesday’s election day.
In battleground Ohio, the president took credit for Republican Troy Balderson’s performance, calling it “a great victory,” though the contest could be headed to a recount. Democrats can also celebrate their strong showing in the district that has gone red for decades.
“We’re not stopping now,” Democrat Danny O’Connor told cheering supporters Tuesday night. Whoever is eventually declared the winner in the special election will take office immediately but only until the end of the year. The two men will face off again in November for the full 2019-20 term.
But Trump declared unconditional victory, tweeting Wednesday, “As long as I campaign and/ or support Senate and House candidates (within reason), they will win!”
He claimed to have helped five GOP candidates win, including Bill Schuette for Michigan governor, John James for Michigan Senate and Josh Hawley for Missouri Senate. “5 for 5!” Trump tweeted.
Though, as in Ohio, the Kansas Republican primary for governor was too close to call.
With election officials halting the vote count Wednesday morning, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach led incumbent Gov. Jeff Colyer by fewer than 200 votes. It could be several days before all absentee votes are counted.
The day’s races in five states, like many before them, tested the persistence of Trump’s fiery supporters and the momentum of the Democratic Party’s antiTrump resistance.
The results were helping determine the political landscape — and Trump’s standing within his own party — as the GOP defends its House and Senate majorities this fall.
If Balderson holds on in Ohio, Republicans will have won eight of nine special House elections since 2016, most in Republicanleaning districts.
In a special election season that featured nearly a dozen congressional contests, Democrats claimed just a handful of wins, but they may have cause for optimism this fall. In virtually every special election test dating back to the spring of 2017, Democratic candidates performed significantly better than their party had in those same places two years earlier.
Trump won Ohio’s 12th Congressional District, for example, by more than 11 points in 2016; on Tuesday night, Balderson and O’Connor were separated by less than one point.
There are 79 House races this fall considered more competitive than the Ohio district — at least looking at Trump’s 2016 performance — according to data compiled by the Democrats’ national campaign committee.
Despite the deadlocked race, the details of the Ohio returns suggest considerably higher Democratic enthusiasm less than 100 days before the midterms.
O’Connor’s total of nearly 100,000 votes far exceeded what the Republican Tiberi’s Democratic opponent got in 2014. Balderson’s total — just more than 101,500 votes — was barely twothirds of Tiberi’s 2014 mark of about 150,000.
“Over the next three months, I’m going to do everything I can to keep America great again, so that when we come back here in November — get ready, we gotta come back here in November — I have earned your vote for a second time,” Balderson said.
It’s unclear how much Trump’s support helped or hurt Balderson in the largely suburban region, with a more affluent and educated voter base than typical Trump strongholds.