Ohio House: Dems Gain But Fall Short of Majority

Okay, so I was wrong.

Results are not final, but the Democrats will not pick up eleven seats and therefore will not gain control of the Ohio House of Representatives.

The Republicans appear to have picked up the 63rd District, with accountant Carol-Ann Schindel (R-Painesville) defeating incumbent Tim Cassell (D-Madison) by 52.17% to 47.83% with all precincts reporting. The Secretary of State's office is also reporting that political newcomer and university student Joe Crawford (R) has defeated veteran legislator Vernon Sykes (D-Akron) in the 44th District by 79.71% to 20.29%, but that is apparently a mistake because the Akron Beaon Journal and the Summit County Board of Elections are reporting the opposite.

The Democrats have picked up seven seats for sure:

* 1st District (Linda Bolon over Jim Hoppel)
* 20th District (Ted Celeste over Geoff Smith)
* 43rd District (Stephen Dyer over Christine Croce)
* 57th District (Matt Lundy over Earl Martin)
* 58th District (Matthew Barrett over Dan White)
* 64th District (Tom Letson over Randy Law)
* 91st District (Dan Dodd over Bill Hayes)

There are three Republican-held seats that are still too close to call, pending absentee and provisional ballots:

* 16th District (Jennifer Brady (D) leads Ed Herman by 50.21% to 49.79% with 74.62% of the precincts reporting)
* 20th District (Jim McGregor (R) leads Bev Campbell (D) by 51.24% to 48.76% with 96.28% of precincts reporting)
* 21st District (Kevin Bacon (R) leads Dean Hernandez (D) by 51.93% to 48.07% with 96.28% of precincts reporting)

Thus, the Democrats have gained at least six seats, and possibly as many as nine, but not the required eleven to control the chamber.

UPDATE: At first glance I thought that Debbie Phillips (D-Athens) had lost by a wide margin to incumbent Jimmy Stewart (R-Athens) in the 92nd District, but now I see that Athens County (the most populous part of the district) has still not reported results to the Secretary of State as of 2:30 am. So, this race goes into the "too close to call" list as well.

2nd UPDATE: As noted in a post above, Brady won the 16th. The Columbus Dispatch reports that the Democratic party is "still keeping an eye on" the 20th District, but the 21st District has been won by Republican Kevin Bacon. Phillips is down but not out in the 92nd District, pending provisional and late absentee ballots. Net result: Dems gain at least 7 seats, with 2 still pending.