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Home > Blogs > Ohio politics > Archives > 2008 > November > 04
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Turner congrats Obama
Here’s U.S. Rep. Mike Turner’s reaction to Barack Obama’s election:
“This is a very American evening and has been an historic election. I would like to congratulate President-elect Barack Obama. In my lifetime, Martin Luther King, Jr. challenged this nation to judge a person by the content of his character. And tonight, America has elected our first African-American president. I look forward to working with him on the important issues of moving our economy forward, creating jobs, and keeping our nation safe.”
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AP: Boehner re-elected
House Minority Leader John Boehner was re-elected to Ohio’s 8th Congressional District Tuesday, Nov. 4, the Associated Press is reporting.
Boehner, R-West Chester, who has held the seat since 1991, beat Nick von Stein, a Hamilton Democrat who works as a substitute teacher.
The 8th Congressional District includes all or parts of Mercer, Darke, Miami, Montgomery, Preble and Butler counties,
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Ohio GOP Chairman Bennett congratulates Democratic “president-elect”
Shortly after major news networks called Ohio for Democrat Barack Obama on Tuesday, Nov. 4, Ohio Republican Chairman Bob Bennett said it appeared that Obama was headed for the White House.
“The American people voted for hope tonight,” Bennett said in a phone interview just before 10 p.m. “They didn’t vote on the basis of experience. They didn’t vote on the basis of any particular issue except the economy.
“They obviously voted on hope and, so, I think our duty now is to congratulate the president-elect and we will support him where we can and, I think, we’ll challenge him when we must.”
Bennett, Ohio GOP chairman since 1988, said Obama’s decision not to accept public financing enabled him to raise the money to mount an effective ground game in Ohio, a game in which Republicans in the past usually have excelled.
Bennett said that the Republican chances in Ohio were devastated by the terrible economic news in October.
“What happened in October just sent this thing down. We dropped 9 points in 10 days. Going into October, we had a …4-point lead. We lost a point a day when the crisis took hold in the housing” area. Problems with Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae and the at first stalled efforts on the federal bailout hurt, said Bennett.
“We were fighting uphill ever since,” he said.
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Casino gambling goes down; Voinovich happy
The Associated Press is reporting that Ohio voters have rejected a proposal to bring casino gambling to southwest Ohio.
Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, an opponent of gambling in the state, is happy about this.
“I have fought for decades to keep casino gambling out of Ohio and I will continue that fight until there are no more attacks on Ohio’s families to defend against,” he said. “Ohioans saw through the sham once again and voted it down. They know that in hard economic times the last thing you need is a casino in your backyard to make things even worse.
“While I’d like to think this was the last time we’ll have to fight this battle, history tells me otherwise. But for anyone who is thinking about coming into Ohio in the near future, trying to rehash this old attack on our families, be assured we’ll be back to defend our values once again.”
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MSNBC, CBS, ABC, CNN call Ohio for Obama
Both MSNBC and CBS called Ohio for Democrat Barack Obama about 9:25 p.m. today, Nov. 4. ABC called the state for the Democrat shortly after that and CNN made its call for Ohio soon after that.
That was bad news for Republican John McCain. No Republican has been elected president without carrying Ohio.
Exit polls showed Obama won because voters valued change and the economy, and they gave him the edge there.
Ohio was the first of the major battleground states that had voted Republican in 2004 to switch to Democratic this year, according to the projections.
A win in Ohio would move Obama close to the 270 electoral votes he needs to be elected president.
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Alert: Edison/Mitofsky calls Ohio for Obama
The National Election Pool exit poll just called the state of Ohio for Obama. Their exit poll indicates 53 percent of voters surveyed support him compared to 45 percent for McCain.
CBS is calling it, too.
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AP: Jim Jordan re-elected
The Associated Press is reporting U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Urbana, has been re-elected to the 4th Congressional District.
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Brunner calls it a smooth election
Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner said during a 9 p.m. press conference at the Statehouse that it looks like voter turn out in Ohio did not hit the predicted 80 percent but will end up hitting at least 60 percent.
“We were very pleased with how the voting unfolded,” said Brunner who reported no major problems. “The key was preparation.”
She reported that there have been some concerns about provisional ballots and voter identification. “We’ve had some difficulties with the poll workers being a bit over zealous on the identification requirements. The statute indicates if a person uses their driver’s license or state ID card they do not have to have the correct address on that. There have been poll workers who have not understood that distinction, thinking that the correct address has to be on any form of identification acceptable when it’s really on those documentary forms” such as utility bills or bank statements.
Brunner said she issued directions Tuesday afternoon to boards of elections about how to handle this.
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Exit polls: 86 percent of Ohioans worried about economy
Exit polls indicate 86 percent of Ohioans are either somewhat or very worried about the direction of the nation’s economy, according to a National Election Pool exit poll conducted by Edison Mitofsky.
Only three percent of Ohioans said they were “not at all” worried about the direction of the nation’s economy.
Ninety three percent of those polled said the condition of the nation’s economy was either “not good” or “poor.”
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NBC News projects Obama winner in Pennsylvania
NBC News at about 8 p.m. today, Nov. 4, projected that Democrat Barack Obama would win Pennsylvania and its 21 electoral votes.
Republican John McCain had campaigned vigorously in Pennsylvania in an effort to win one of the major states that had gone for Democrat John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election and in an effort to compensate for possible Obama wins in states that went Republican in 2004.
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Exit polls: Voters value change
Ohio voters value change over experience and values in 2008, according to the National Exit Pool exit poll, conducted by Edison/Mitofsky.
Thirty-three percent of Ohio voters polled say they value change above values, experience and whether the candidate cares about them. Twenty percent of voters said they value experience above other qualities, and 28 percent said they value values above other qualities.
Voters who said they value change above all else were more likely to back Obama. Ninety-two percent supported him compared to seven percent for McCain. McCain, meanwhile, trumped Obama on experience. Ninety-five percent of Ohio voters polled who said they value experience above all else backed him compared to five percent for Obama.
Results of this post may differ from an earlier post regarding qualities voters value because this post is based on the second wave of data from Edison/Mitofsky.
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Exit polls: More on the issues
An overwhelming number of Ohioans identify the economy as their top issue in the 2008 presidential election, with health care, Iraq, terrorism and energy taking a back seat to the issue.
According to a National Election Pool exit pool by Edison/Mitofsky, 61 percent of Ohioans tapped the economy as their top issue, compared to 11 percent who identified Iraq as their top issue. Ten percent called health care their top issue, and eight percent of those polled identified energy and terrorism as their top issues, respectively.
These results - which may differ from an earlier post on issues - come from the second wave of data from the Edison/Mitofsky poll.
On the economy, Obama is attracting more voters, if exit polls are correct. The exit polls indicate 55 percent of those who identified the economy as their top issue backed Obama compared to 44 percent who backed McCain.
McCain received more support than Obama among voters who identified terrorism as their top priority; 87 percent supported him compared to 13 percent who backed Obama. Obama has an edge on the energy issue: 51 percent of those who said it was their top issue backed him compared to 46 percent for McCain.
And among voters who identify Iraq as their top issue, 62 percent back Obama and 38 percent back McCain.
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Exit polls: The gender gap
Sen. Barack Obama is winning among both men and women, according to exit polls conducted by Edison/Mitofsky.
Fifty-two percent of male voters backed Obama compared to 46 percent for McCain. Fifty-four percent of female voters backed Obama compared to 44 percent for McCain.
Let’s compare that to 2004: In 2004, President George Bush also won among men while were evenly split between both candidates. Among Ohio men, 52 percent backed Bush and 47 backed Kerry, according to exit polls.
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Exit polls: Who was unfair?
According to the National Exit Pool exit poll by Edison/Mitofsky, 71 percent of Ohio voters argued Sen. John McCain unfairly attacked Sen. Barack Obama. Fifty-three percent of Ohio voters believed Obama unfairly attacked McCain during the course of the campaign.
Seven percent of voters said only Obama unfairly attacked McCain. Twenty-five percent said only McCain unfairly attacked Obama. But 45 percent of Ohio voters polled were bipartisan: They said both candidates unfairly attacked the other.
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Exit polls give Obama lead in Ohio
Exit polls in Ohio give Obama 53 percent of the vote to John McCain’s 45 percent, but Edison/Mitofsky, which is conducting the poll for national media outlets, has yet to call the race in the Buckeye State.
Obama is winning among women, men, and in voters all aged groups except those over the age of 65.
He’s also winning in Cuyahoga County, Northeast Ohio, Toledo and Northwest Ohio. McCain is winning in southwest Ohio and central Ohio.
The polls in Ohio closed at 7:30 p.m.
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Exit polls: Most voters “strongly disapprove” of Bush
Early results of exit polls conducted by Edison/Mitofsky indicate 52 percent of Ohioans who voted today “strongly disapprove” of President Bush’s performance in office.
Of voters polled 29 percent either “strongly approved” or “somewhat disapproved” of Bush’s performance.
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Exit polls: More Ohioans say they want change than experience
Early exit polls conducted by Edison/Mitofsky indicate 32 percent of Ohioans identify “change” as a priority in their vote than “experience.”
Twenty-nine percent of voters in early results say they are voting based on “change.” Those voters overwhelmingly support Obama. Voters who are voting on “values” or “experience” overwhelmingly prefer McCain.
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Exit Polls: Most Ohioans describe themselves as moderates
Early results of exit polls indicate some 45 percent of Ohioans polled during exit polls conducted by Edison/Mitofsky today identify themselves as moderate.
That’s compared to 20 percent who say they’re liberal and 35 percent who say they’re conservative.
More Ohio moderates are backing Barack Obama than John McCain, according to early exit poll results.
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Early exit poll results: Ohioans most concerned about economy
Polls haven’t closed yet in Ohio, but early results from the National Election Pool exit polls conducted by Edison/Mitofsky find that Ohioans are more concerned about the economy than they are about Iraq, energy, terrorism or health care.
Sixty percent of voters identified the economy as their top concern, according to the exit poll. Voters who considered it their top issue were more likely to support Sen. Barack Obama than Sen. John McCain.
Eleven percent of those polled identified Iraq as their top issue. They, too, were more likely to support Obama than McCain. But of the eight percent that identified terrorism as their top concern, more were likely to be McCain voters than Obama voters.
Obama also holds an edge among voters who consider health care their top issue. But McCain has slightly more support than Obama for Ohio voters who consider energy their top issue, according to the poll.
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Ohio GOP asks federal judge to act on provisional ballots
The legal battles continue between Democratic Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner and the Ohio Republican Party, even on Election Day.
The Associated Press reported today, Nov. 4, that the Ohio GOP filed a complaint asking a federal judge to require that provisional ballots be verified and counted the same statewide.
Republicans said they are concerned provisional ballots will be handled differently, the AP reported. Provisional ballots are those cast by voters whose registration has has been questioned.
The ballots are held for 10 days while elections workers check voter eligibility before they are counted.
Republicans said Brunner had issued “vague and confusing instructions” on handling provisional ballots and “actually seemed to encourage local officials to overlook non-matching signatures” of voters, according to the AP.
Brunner, who has already been in several legal battles with the GOP, responded in a prepared statement
“While Ohioans are voting with confidence in record numbers, partisan attempts to re-litigate issues that have been decided by the Ohio Supreme Court and the US Supreme Court are troubling.
“Rather than focus on these distractions, we applaud the great work of our bipartisan elections officials who are helping Ohio voters see the success of our preparation for this election.”
Dayton Daily News Columbus Bureau reporter Laura A. Bischoff reports that Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland and U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, both downplayed the lawsuit’s significance.
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Voting problems near Wright State University
Wright State University junior C.J. Weitz showed up to vote at the Highlands Apartment Complex near Wright State at 6:30 a.m. But it took him more than two hours - as well as one fight with a poll worker - before he got to cast his votes.
Weitz, who went to vote with a friend, waited in line for well over an hour, but ran into trouble when he got to the front of the line.
The poll worker asked to see his driver’s license, and, when she saw it didn’t have his current address, told him he had to vote a provisional ballot.”
“I told her I wasn’t going to vote provisional because when I even registered I made sure it wasn’t a problem,” he said. According to the Ohio Secretary of State’s office, voters need to have a current and valid photo identification, but it does not need to show the current address for a driver’s license or state identification card.
Weitz, originally from Cincinnati, currently lives in Dayton.
He moved to the provisional line, and his friend said he was also asked to vote provisional for the same reason. Two other people behind him also said they were asked to cast provisional ballots for the same reason.
Weitz said he showed the poll worker the sign saying that he could vote even if his driver’s license address didn’t match his current address. “She still told me I had to vote provisional or couldn’t vote at all,” he said.
Frustrated, he went and got one of the watchdogs outside, who called lawyers.
Weitz, 19, said the woman ended up being pulled and replaced.
When he finally got to vote, he was asked to vote a paper ballot, which took an extra half hour. He said all told it took him two hours and 15 minutes or a half hour to vote.
He still said it was worth it. “I’d rather not deal with that again,” he said. “But I wanted to vote.”
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Politico: 3 Ohio counties, including Butler, key to election
Politico.com listed Butler County, Ohio as one of the 25 key counties in America for today’s election. Franklin and Mahoning counties also ranked. Here’s what the site said about the Ohio counties…
Franklin County, Ohio: Ohio’s second-largest population hub after Cleveland’s Cuyahoga County, Columbus’ Franklin County is trending increasingly Democratic. Since Cincinnati’s Hamilton County is no longer a reliable Republican bulwark, a big Obama win here would go a long way toward sinking McCain’s chances in the state.
Butler County, Ohio: Cincinnati’s suburban Butler County was a key part of the exurban and micropolitan firewall that enabled Bush to carry Ohio in 2004. The 54,000-vote margin it delivered to Bush was his largest in any county in the state.
Mahoning County, Ohio: As a vote source, Youngstown’s Mahoning County pales next to Cuyahoga County, Franklin County, Dayton’s Montgomery County, Akron’s Summit County or Toledo’s Lucas County. But the results here will be revealing because if Obama is running below 60 percent in this industrial area, that’s a bad sign for him — and it probably signals he’s struggling in western Pennsylvania, too.
See the full story and the complete list here.
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Brunner: Ohio voting “brisk and orderly”
Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner reported as of 10 a.m. today, Nov. 4, that voting in Ohio so far has been “brisk and orderly” according to reports to the Citizen’s Response Center.
“Our office has spent 22 months preparing for this day, in partnership with Ohio’s bipartisan boards of elections. Thanks to that hard work and cooperation, Ohioans are seeing the success of our preparation today, voting in record numbers in an orderly and efficient system,” Brunner said in a press release.
Highlights of Ohioans’ voting experience, according to Brunner:
The maximum wait time as reported to the office is no more than 1 hour in most large precincts.
The longest average wait time reported to the office is approximately 1 hour in Lucas County.
Sporadic machine issues have been reported - primarily Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail jams that are easily fixed and some instances of precinct-based optical scanners that are not working, but voters are still able to place their ballots in a secure box for scanning later.
Reports indicate poll workers are quickly fixing the hiccups and are offering voters backup paper ballots in touch-screen voting machine counties.
The two-line directive, one for touch-screen voting machines and one for back-up paper ballots, is keeping lines moving.
Some voters have been confused about Ohio’s ID requirements, so the Secretary of State is working with boards of elections to reinforce poll worker training on eligible ID.
There are widespread reports of voters choosing back-up paper ballots.
