MANSFIELD — Republican Troy Balderson beat Democrat Danny O’Connor by a wide margin in Richland County, but by only a slim margin overall in Tuesday’s special election for Ohio’s 12th Congressional District.
Unofficial results from the Richland County Board of Elections showed Balderson won Richland County by 18 percentage points, or 2,345 votes on Tuesday.
Districtwide, he bested O’Connor by 0.86 percentage points, according to the Ohio Secretary of State’s website.
Around the district, with all 591 precincts reporting, Balderson received 101,574 votes compared to 99,820 for O’Connor — a difference of 1,754 votes.
In Ohio, an automatic vote recount occurs if the margin of victory is less than 0.5 percent of the vote in a county, municipal, or district election, or less than 0.25 percent in a statewide election.
According to Paulette Hankins, director of the Richland County Board of Elections, the board has a total of 204 provisional ballots which have to be checked by staff and ruled upon by a meeting of the board at their Aug. 21 meeting.
“We also have a total of 419 absentees and military or overseas civilian ballots which, if postmarked by Aug. 6 and received within the next 10 days, may be counted in the official tabulation that the board will certify on Aug. 23,” Hankins said.
Voters in Ohio’s 12th congressional district were choosing a replacement for Rep. Pat Tiberi, a Republican who resigned on Oct. 19, 2017. His official resignation date occurred on Jan. 31, 2018.
“I have been presented with an opportunity to lead the Ohio Business Roundtable that will allow me to continue to work on public policy issues impacting Ohioans while also spending more time with my family,” Tiberi said in a statement in October.
Balderson was endorsed by President Donald Trump at a rally at Olentangy Orange High School on Saturday. O’Connor previously served as the Franklin County Recorder, while Balderson served as a state senator.
Once confirmed, Balderson will fulfill an unexpired term ending on Jan. 3, 2019. According to Hankins, a rematch is on the horizon – candidates face the special primary and general election for the unexpired term, and the regular May primary and November election for the term beginning in 2019.
The 12th Congressional District encompasses northern Franklin County suburbs and all of Delaware, Morrow and Licking counties. It includes only parts of Marion, Muskingum and Richland counties.
Richland County is split between the 7th and 12th Districts. There are 50 Richland County precincts in the 12th Congressional District versus 84 total precincts in Richland County.
The 12th Congressional District includes all city of Mansfield precincts, all of Jefferson Township, all of Madison D and part of Madison E, G and I, all of Perry, all of Lexington and Troy, and all of Washington and Worthington precincts.
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Republican Troy Balderson and Democrat Danny O’Connor faced off in a special election for Ohio’s 12th Congressional District. Here’s the breakdown of votes by precinct in Richland County:
Mansfield
Balderson: 3,558 votes
O’Connor: 3,568 votes
Jefferson Township
Balderson: 855 votes
O’Connor: 274 votes
Madison Township
Balderson: 264 votes
O’Connor: 164 votes
Perry Township
Balderson: 194 votes
O’Connor: 48 votes
Lexington
Balderson: 718 votes
O’Connor: 342 votes
Troy Township
Balderson: 496 votes
O’Connor: 193 votes
Washington Township
Balderson: 1,115 votes
O’Connor: 478 votes
Worthington Township
Balderson: 385 votes
O’Connor: 173 votes
