Released from the Ohio Democratic Party on March 5:
A record-setting turnout in Tuesday’s Ohio Democratic Party primary demonstrated the incredible grassroots energy of Democrats across the state and heralded a major shift of Independent and Republican voters to Democratic candidates. Meanwhile, on the Republican side, John McCain struggled toward an unconvincing 60-31 primary victory over Mike Huckabee, stumbling over key trade and economic issues and garnering fewer votes than either of the two Democratic candidates en route to clinching the GOP nomination.
“As John McCain heads to the White House for another big hug with George Bush, he should think about the consequences of his continued embrace of failed Bush administration policies in Ohio,” said Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern. “John McCain is promising us a third Bush term and Ohioans of all political stripes are rejecting it.”
The 2008 Ohio Democratic Party primary shattered turnout records and left Republicans with a dramatic party registration deficit. Democratic ballot requests outnumbered Republican ballot requests in 71 of Ohio’s 88 counties, including 65 counties that George Bush carried in 2004. Based on current returns, registered Ohio Democrats now outnumber registered Ohio Republicans by a ratio of more than 2:1.
The historic shift was evident in key counties across Ohio. In six historically “red” Ohio counties – Putnam, Brown, Shelby, Warren, Delaware and Clermont – more people voted for Sen. Clinton or Sen. Obama in the 2008 primary election than voted for John Kerry in the 2004 general election.
Ohio Republicans also displayed surprising weakness in key congressional contests. In Ohio’s 16th Congressional District, Kirk Schuring lost three of four counties, failed to break 50%, and barely fended off a primary challenge from Matt Miller, despite dramatically outspending him by a wide margin. Recurrent Republican headache Jean Schmidt continued to embarrass her party in Ohio’s 2nd Congressional District. The two-term incumbent failed to break 60%, even after her main primary opponent, Phil Heimlich, withdrew from the race. Weak fundraising and a scattered GOP candidate field defined Ohio’s 18th Congressional District Republican primary and produced an unimpressive victory by Fred Dailey, who earned less than 40% of the primary vote.
“Republican congressional candidates are on the run in Ohio,” said Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern. ”This is the weakest crop of congressional candidates that the Republican Party has fielded in Ohio in more than a decade.”
Great stuff. Hope it’s a sign of things to come. Stay tuned for more updates on the Ohio primaries.
-Jen Steer
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June 8, 2008 at 6:30 am
[...] ODP positive about primaries – Released from the Ohio Democratic Party on March 5: A record-setting turnout in Tuesday’s Ohio Democratic Party primary demonstrated the incredible grassroots energy of Democrats across the state and heralded a major shift of … [...]