GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS ELECTION
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| Also listed in: Appalachian Populists | Interfaith Peace Coalition | Licking County Pro-Active Citizens (www.licopac.org) | Ohio 12th Congressional District | Ohio 18th Congressional District | Perry County Democratic Forum |
Tuesday's election marked an historic shift for the nation but -- unfortunately -- just more of the same for Licking County.
The whoops and shouts were loud and sustained last night at the local Democratic election party at the Center Pub in Newark as, shortly after 9 p.m., Ohio was declared for Obama, making his eventual nationwide victory look inevitable. Hours later, the Obama victory was sweetened by Democratic gains in the U.S. House and Senate, the election of Richard Cordray as state attorney general and the flipping of the Ohio House to a 51-48 Democratic majority.
But in Licking County, it was another wipe-out for the Democrats. Only freshman State Rep. Dan Dodd and freshman 18th District Congressman Zack Space survived the night as Republicans took over all three seats on the Licking County commission and a field of Democratic newcomers and judicial candidates went down to defeat, often by large margins.
The Space and Dodd victories were significant since both legislators wore GOP bulls-eyes on their backs, having won two years ago in districts normally safe for the Republicans.
In many ways, however, last night resembled the 2006 elections where Democrats made great gains at the Ohio Statehouse and in Congress but failed to dent traditional GOP control in local races.
The Blue team, however, showed potential for the future in backing thoughtful new candidates such as Doug Moreland for county commissioner, Don Hill for state representative and David Robinson for the U.S. House (12th District). We can only hope that they -- and others -- stay in the fight and come back benefitting from this experience to challenge again in 2010.
Also a big plus was that behind the ballot box, the big winner of the night was Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner who has, since her election in 2006, has withstood a withering attack from Statehouse Republicans intent on making her "too controversial" for re-election in 2010. Two headlines in this morning's Dispatch tell the story:
VOTING PROBLEMS? NOT IN OHIO (pp. A1)
FRAUD ALLEGATIONS FEW DESPITE TURNOUT (pp. A5)
The attacks on Brunner are all about controlling which party gets to gerrymander state and federal legislative district redistricting after the 2010 census. As Dispatch senior editor Joe Hallett wrote back in 2006:
"For decades, Ohio has used a system that awards gerrymandering power every 10 years to the political party that wins two of the three races for governor, secretary of state and state auditor. That power has been abused by both parties, most recently Republicans, who has ensured their legislative majorities by virtually eliminating competitive elections."
As of now, Democrats control the governor's office and secretary of state's office, while Republicans hold the auditor's office. With Gov. Ted Strickland still riding high in the polls, Republicans have decided to try and unseat Brunner, a relative unknown, by linking her to what has now proven to be the phony issue of voter fraud.
We were reminded again last night that the Ohio GOP's congressional Maginot Line held firm once again thanks to gerrymandering. The 12th District Republican, the lackluster Pat Tiberi, converted his massive financial advantage as an incumbent to defeat Robinson with only minimal deployment of TV advertising and direct mail. And in Franklin County, it appears that gerrymandering once again defeated Democrat Mary Jo Kilroy from overcoming GOP majorities in rural Union and Madison counties.
In the 2006 congressional elections, Ohio sent 11 Republicans and 7 Democrats to the U.S. House, even though the total combined vote for Democratic congressional candidates here was 1.97 million as compared to 1.78 million for the Republicans.
So while we can cheer Barack Obama's historic victory, it remains true that all politics is local and on both the local and state level, Democrats still have much work to do.
The whoops and shouts were loud and sustained last night at the local Democratic election party at the Center Pub in Newark as, shortly after 9 p.m., Ohio was declared for Obama, making his eventual nationwide victory look inevitable. Hours later, the Obama victory was sweetened by Democratic gains in the U.S. House and Senate, the election of Richard Cordray as state attorney general and the flipping of the Ohio House to a 51-48 Democratic majority.
But in Licking County, it was another wipe-out for the Democrats. Only freshman State Rep. Dan Dodd and freshman 18th District Congressman Zack Space survived the night as Republicans took over all three seats on the Licking County commission and a field of Democratic newcomers and judicial candidates went down to defeat, often by large margins.
The Space and Dodd victories were significant since both legislators wore GOP bulls-eyes on their backs, having won two years ago in districts normally safe for the Republicans.
In many ways, however, last night resembled the 2006 elections where Democrats made great gains at the Ohio Statehouse and in Congress but failed to dent traditional GOP control in local races.
The Blue team, however, showed potential for the future in backing thoughtful new candidates such as Doug Moreland for county commissioner, Don Hill for state representative and David Robinson for the U.S. House (12th District). We can only hope that they -- and others -- stay in the fight and come back benefitting from this experience to challenge again in 2010.
Also a big plus was that behind the ballot box, the big winner of the night was Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner who has, since her election in 2006, has withstood a withering attack from Statehouse Republicans intent on making her "too controversial" for re-election in 2010. Two headlines in this morning's Dispatch tell the story:
VOTING PROBLEMS? NOT IN OHIO (pp. A1)
FRAUD ALLEGATIONS FEW DESPITE TURNOUT (pp. A5)
The attacks on Brunner are all about controlling which party gets to gerrymander state and federal legislative district redistricting after the 2010 census. As Dispatch senior editor Joe Hallett wrote back in 2006:
"For decades, Ohio has used a system that awards gerrymandering power every 10 years to the political party that wins two of the three races for governor, secretary of state and state auditor. That power has been abused by both parties, most recently Republicans, who has ensured their legislative majorities by virtually eliminating competitive elections."
As of now, Democrats control the governor's office and secretary of state's office, while Republicans hold the auditor's office. With Gov. Ted Strickland still riding high in the polls, Republicans have decided to try and unseat Brunner, a relative unknown, by linking her to what has now proven to be the phony issue of voter fraud.
We were reminded again last night that the Ohio GOP's congressional Maginot Line held firm once again thanks to gerrymandering. The 12th District Republican, the lackluster Pat Tiberi, converted his massive financial advantage as an incumbent to defeat Robinson with only minimal deployment of TV advertising and direct mail. And in Franklin County, it appears that gerrymandering once again defeated Democrat Mary Jo Kilroy from overcoming GOP majorities in rural Union and Madison counties.
In the 2006 congressional elections, Ohio sent 11 Republicans and 7 Democrats to the U.S. House, even though the total combined vote for Democratic congressional candidates here was 1.97 million as compared to 1.78 million for the Republicans.
So while we can cheer Barack Obama's historic victory, it remains true that all politics is local and on both the local and state level, Democrats still have much work to do.
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