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2008 Election:
Party officials wrap up 2008 election results
By Marilyn H. Karfeld
Senior Staff Reporter
In 2004, John Kerry won 16 Ohio counties and underperformed the usual Democratic tally in 65 of the remaining ones. He went on to lose the state to Republican George W. Bush.
In 2008, Barack Obama won 22 or 23 counties, outperforming the average Democratic vote total in 76 of the state’s 88 counties. When he was declared the winner in Ohio at 9:15 p.m. – Pennsylvania had already gone for Obama – the presidential election was over for John McCain.
The lesson is clear, said Chris Redfern, Ohio Democratic Party chairman and a state representative from Catawba Island. “If you ignore entire regions of the state, the Republicans will fill the vacuum and create a generation of Republicans. And Democrats will be in the minority forever.”
Redfern and Bob Bennett, Ohio Republican Party chair, spoke about the election this week at B’nai Jeshurun Congregation in a program co-sponsored by the Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland and the regional chapter of the American Jewish Committee.
Ironically, in Cuyahoga County, where Obama racked up his largest vote in the state – 441,836 – his margin of victory over McCain was worse than mediocre, Redfern said. In fact, viewed as a percentage of the total vote, it ranked 57th out of 88 counties.
Redfern attributed this to a county party distracted by the corruption investigation facing Jimmy Dimora, chair of the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party and a county commissioner. Obama tallied higher percentages in Franklin (Columbus) and Hamilton (Cincinnati) than in Cuyahoga.
The best performing county for Obama was Williams County in northwest Ohio, overwhelmingly rural, white and Catholic, which McCain won, Redfern said. But Democrats improved their vote margin there over their Republican rival by 20 percentage points, compared to 2004.
In fact, the northwest counties were the best performers for Obama; they were the reason he won the state, Redfern said.
Still, Nov. 4 was a day to celebrate for Ohio Democrats. They elected two more Democrats to Congress: John Boccieri, who won retiring U.S. Rep. Ralph Regula’s seat in Stark County, and Steve Driehaus, who defeated incumbent U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot, the first Democrat to win the Hamilton County seat in southwestern Ohio in 44 years.
Democrats may yet win another congressional seat. In a race to replace retiring Republican Deborah Pryce in Franklin County, Republican Steve Stivers leads Democrat Mary Jo Kilroy by 300 votes, with 25,000 provisional ballots yet to be counted.
Bennett was philosophical about the Republican losses, blaming them on “a strong headwind,” the bad economy. McCain still managed to win 47% of the vote, indicating Ohio continues to be a competitive two-party state, the GOP leader said.
In mid-September, polls showed McCain with a five-point lead over Obama. Then the financial meltdown struck, and McCain dropped nine points in 10 days and never fully recovered, said Bennett, who is retiring as party chairman after serving for 20 years. State Sen. Kevin DeWine, who is term limited, will take Bennett’s place in January.
The country “is going to hear a lot” from vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin in the future, said Bennett. In response to a question, he replied, “No, I don’t think she hurt McCain.”
Once McCain couldn’t get his first choice as running mate, Sen. Joe Lieberman, because he’d “have a revolt on his hands with the party in Minneapolis,” Bennett said Palin fit in with McCain’s maverick image.
Counting the state party coffers and the Obama campaign chest, Democrats raised $32.5 million in Ohio, the largest amount ever, Redfern said. Republicans raised $25-$27 million statewide, noted Bennett.
Republicans were outspent up to 3 to 1 throughout the country, Bennett pointed out. Obama raised the majority – three-quarters of a billion dollars – on the Internet. “We can kiss public financing (of presidential elections) goodbye,” said Bennett. “Republicans will never again opt to take (public) spending limits.”
Both political leaders are looking ahead to the crucial 2010 elections, whose outcome will determine which party gets to redraw state legislative districts and congressional districts. Due to a stagnant population, Ohio will lose one to two congressional seats after the 2010 census.
mkarfeld@cjn.org
In 2008, Barack Obama won 22 or 23 counties, outperforming the average Democratic vote total in 76 of the state’s 88 counties. When he was declared the winner in Ohio at 9:15 p.m. – Pennsylvania had already gone for Obama – the presidential election was over for John McCain.
The lesson is clear, said Chris Redfern, Ohio Democratic Party chairman and a state representative from Catawba Island. “If you ignore entire regions of the state, the Republicans will fill the vacuum and create a generation of Republicans. And Democrats will be in the minority forever.”
Redfern and Bob Bennett, Ohio Republican Party chair, spoke about the election this week at B’nai Jeshurun Congregation in a program co-sponsored by the Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland and the regional chapter of the American Jewish Committee.
Ironically, in Cuyahoga County, where Obama racked up his largest vote in the state – 441,836 – his margin of victory over McCain was worse than mediocre, Redfern said. In fact, viewed as a percentage of the total vote, it ranked 57th out of 88 counties.
Redfern attributed this to a county party distracted by the corruption investigation facing Jimmy Dimora, chair of the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party and a county commissioner. Obama tallied higher percentages in Franklin (Columbus) and Hamilton (Cincinnati) than in Cuyahoga.
The best performing county for Obama was Williams County in northwest Ohio, overwhelmingly rural, white and Catholic, which McCain won, Redfern said. But Democrats improved their vote margin there over their Republican rival by 20 percentage points, compared to 2004.
In fact, the northwest counties were the best performers for Obama; they were the reason he won the state, Redfern said.
Still, Nov. 4 was a day to celebrate for Ohio Democrats. They elected two more Democrats to Congress: John Boccieri, who won retiring U.S. Rep. Ralph Regula’s seat in Stark County, and Steve Driehaus, who defeated incumbent U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot, the first Democrat to win the Hamilton County seat in southwestern Ohio in 44 years.
Democrats may yet win another congressional seat. In a race to replace retiring Republican Deborah Pryce in Franklin County, Republican Steve Stivers leads Democrat Mary Jo Kilroy by 300 votes, with 25,000 provisional ballots yet to be counted.
The country “is going to hear a lot” from vice- presidential candidate Sarah Palin.
Bob Bennett,
Republican Party Chair
In the Ohio House, Democrats wrested control from Republicans, picking up six or seven seats statewide, depending on final voting results. Beachwood state Rep. Armond Budish will be the next speaker of the house.Bob Bennett,
Republican Party Chair
Bennett was philosophical about the Republican losses, blaming them on “a strong headwind,” the bad economy. McCain still managed to win 47% of the vote, indicating Ohio continues to be a competitive two-party state, the GOP leader said.
In mid-September, polls showed McCain with a five-point lead over Obama. Then the financial meltdown struck, and McCain dropped nine points in 10 days and never fully recovered, said Bennett, who is retiring as party chairman after serving for 20 years. State Sen. Kevin DeWine, who is term limited, will take Bennett’s place in January.
The country “is going to hear a lot” from vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin in the future, said Bennett. In response to a question, he replied, “No, I don’t think she hurt McCain.”
Once McCain couldn’t get his first choice as running mate, Sen. Joe Lieberman, because he’d “have a revolt on his hands with the party in Minneapolis,” Bennett said Palin fit in with McCain’s maverick image.
Counting the state party coffers and the Obama campaign chest, Democrats raised $32.5 million in Ohio, the largest amount ever, Redfern said. Republicans raised $25-$27 million statewide, noted Bennett.
Republicans were outspent up to 3 to 1 throughout the country, Bennett pointed out. Obama raised the majority – three-quarters of a billion dollars – on the Internet. “We can kiss public financing (of presidential elections) goodbye,” said Bennett. “Republicans will never again opt to take (public) spending limits.”
Both political leaders are looking ahead to the crucial 2010 elections, whose outcome will determine which party gets to redraw state legislative districts and congressional districts. Due to a stagnant population, Ohio will lose one to two congressional seats after the 2010 census.
mkarfeld@cjn.org
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