Both Democrats, Trump optimistic
Two high-stakes elections that tested President Donald Trump’s clout and the Democrats’ momentum cost both parties millions of dollars and are too close to call.
Trump claimed victory in one race, nevertheless. In Ohio, the president took credit for Republican Troy Balderson’s performance, calling it ‘‘a great victory’’, even though the contest could be headed to a recount.
Democrats could also celebrate their showing in a district that has gone Republican for decades. ‘‘We’re not stopping now,’’ Democrat Danny O’Connor told cheering supporters. He will reprise his campaign against Balderson from now through to November’s general election.
In deep-red Kansas’ Republican gubernatorial primary, the candidate Trump backed on the eve of the election, Secretary of State Kris Kobach, was neck and neck with current Republican Governor Jeff Colyer.
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 will help determine the political landscape – and Trump’s standing within his own party – as the Republican Party defends its House and Senate majorities in November.
The Democrats did not have a clear win yesterday but they didn’t have to. They essentially battled Republicans to a draw in districts that should have been an easy win for them.
In Kansas, Republicans were fighting among themselves in an unusual battle for governor in which the president sided with the incumbent’s challenger.
Republicans were hoping for Democratic discord in Kansas’ 3rd Congressional District, a suburban Kansas City district where several candidates were fighting for the chance to take on Republican Kevin Yoder in November.
In Ohio, the script for the special election was somewhat familiar: An experienced Trump loyalist, Balderson, was fighting a strong challenge from O’Connor, a fresh-faced Democrat, in a congressional district held by the Republican Party for more than three decades.
The winner takes the seat previously held by Pat Tiberi, a nineterm incumbent.
Balderson and O’Connor will reprise their race in the general election in just three months.
There were at least 3367 provisional ballots left to be reviewed.
That’s enough for O’Connor to potentially pick up enough to force a recount.
O’Connor’s total of nearly
100,000 votes far exceeded what Tiberi’s Democratic opponent got in 2014.
Balderson’s total – just more than 101,500 votes – is barely twothirds of Tiberi’s 2014 mark of about 150,000.
It’s unclear how much Trump’s support helped or hurt Balderson. At times, the race centred on Trump’s tax cuts as much as the candidates.
O’Connor and his Democratic allies railed against the tax plan, casting it as a giveaway for the rich that exacerbates federal deficits and threatens Medicare and Social Security.
Balderson and his Republican allies have backed away from the tax plan in recent weeks.
O’Connor’s campaign spent
US$2.25 million (NZ$3.33m) on advertising compared to Balderson’s US$507,000 (NZ$750,000), according to campaign tallies of ad spending.
The Republican campaign arm and its allied super PAC were forced to pick up the slack, spending more than US$4m (NZ$5.9m) between them.