Ohio Sen: Democrats Gain One Seat

The Democrats gained one seat in the 33-member Ohio Senate because Sue Morano (D-Lorain) has defeated Martha Wise (R-Avon Lake) for the 13th District seat of term-limited State Sen. Jeffry Armbruster (R-North Ridgeville).

Emily Kreider (D-Westerville), Judy Hanna (D-Bath Township), and Tom West (D-Canton) ran great campaigns and put up a stiff fight in the 3rd, 27th, and 29th Districts, respectively, but succumbed in the end to well-funded incumbents David Goodman (R-New Albany), Kevin Coughlin (R-Cuyahoga Falls), and Kirk Schuring (R-Canton). Hanna came the closest, losing by just over 6,000 votes, or 5%. Goodman and Coughlin besmirched themselves by running shamefully ugly, negative, and disingenuous campaigns.

UPDATE: I failed to mention Rick Smith (R-Cincinnati), who ran a fantastic campaign in one of the very toughest districts for a Democrat in the state. He is a political talent with a big future, and he is to be commended for taking on a very rough task and handling it brilliantly.