Election Results 2009 – Ohio Issues 1, 2, & 3 Pass; GOP Takes 2 of 3
Election night was a good night in Ohio. Among other things, Issues 1, 2, and 3 all passed. I didn’t speak about Issues 1 or 2 because I didn’t know much about either until just a few days ago. Mrs. Gribbit researched Issue 2 because of all the yard signs we were seeing and was supposed to post a report on her research but unfortunately, life with a special needs child makes it difficult to do the things we like.
For the record, Issue 1 was a bonus to be paid to Ohio veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. If passed it would pay each veteran a bonus of $100 per month spent in either of those two theaters of operations up to $1,000.00. I am happy to report that the people of the Buckeye State overwhelmingly decided to support our veterans. With 93% of the precincts reporting, Issue 1 has succeeded by a vote of 2,054,717 (72%) to 797,742 (28%). This vote makes me proud to be from a state which appreciates our fighting men and women. Way to go Ohio!
Issue 2 was a Farm Services and Livestock Care Board issue. As I stated above, Mrs. Gribbit is the expert on this issue. She gave me a summery a couple of weeks ago and it was from that summary that I decided to support the issue. For the record, Ohio Issue 2 had widespread bipartisan support among our elected officials. Both US House Minority Leader Rep. John Boeher (R OH-8) and Gov. Ted Strickland (M[1] OH) supported Issue 2. It passed by a vote of 1,831,316 (64%) to 1,034,774 (36%) with 93% of the precincts reporting at the time of this writing.
Ohio Issue 3 was one of THE most hotly contested issues that I have ever seen run here in Ohio. It was the 5th time an issue has come before the people to authorize casino gambling within our state. It is no secret that on September 16th I was happy to endorse passage of Issue 3 and wrote several posts supporting the ballot issue. Issue 3 has also passed with a vote of 1,5580,373 (53%) to 1,372,351 (47%) with 93% of precincts reporting at the time of this writing.
Elsewhere on Tuesday three very important races were being closely watched. The first was the Virginia Gubernatorial race between Republican Robert McDonnell and Democrat R. Craigh Deeds. McDonnell defeated Deeds in what is being declared a landslide by vote of 58% to 41%.
In New Jersey, incumbent Democratic Governor John Corzine faced two opponents seeking to unseat him. Republican Chris Christie and Independent Christopher Daggett. Even with Daggett supposedly splitting the Christie vote, Christie did edge out Corzine by a vote of 48% to 44% in the three-way race. Daggett garnered 5% of the vote.
The third nationally watched race was for the vacant House seat in upstate New York’s 23rd Congressional District. This race has been quite controversial in that the Republican candidate dropped out of the race on Sunday then later endorsed the Democratic candidate Bill Owens. Owens defeated Conservative candidate Doug Hoffman by a vote of 48% – 46% with 88% of the precincts reporting. Former Republican candidate Dede Scozzafava still managed to split off 6% of the vote.
This race has been a watershed moment for the GOP in spite of Hoffman’s loss. It is clear had Scozzafava not been on the ballot that the results may have been different. Scozzafava was forced to exit the race after the Republican Party began to withhold funding in the wake of a surge of support for Conservative candidate Doug Hoffman. Hoffman’s popularity is showing the national Party that moderation is not the direction the people want the GOP to take. Let us all hope that the GOP is going to change and return to its Conservative roots.
The major shocker for me personally on Tuesday was the defeat of incumbent Dayton Mayor Rhine McLin (D) by Gary Leitzell (R) by a vote of 48% to 52%. The hotly contested race was decided by a small 878 votes. McLin pulled in 14,045 votes compared to Leitzell’s 14,923. In a city that went for Barack Obama as heavily as Dayton did, it is surprising that 52% of Dayton voters rejected McLin who heavily campaigned for the President last year.
All in all the non-issue races are being seen as a defeat for the policies of President Obama. Even the Hoffman defeat in the NY-23 race is showing that big government is being rejected. Had the election been another week or two off, Hoffman would probably have easily defeated Owens for that seat.
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