A special election for Ohio's 12th congressional district was held on August 7, 2018, following the resignation of Republican U.S. Representative Pat Tiberi. The Republican Party nominated State Senator Troy Balderson for the seat while the Democratic Party nominated Franklin County Recorder Danny O'Connor. Balderson led O'Connor in preliminary results; however, the race was not officially called on election night. Constantly updated Counting of outstanding ballots began on August 18 and was completed on August 24. The outstanding ballots did not change the margin enough to trigger an automatic recount, so Balderson was declared the winner on August 24.
Background On October 19, 2017, nine-term incumbent Republican representative Pat Tiberi announced that he would leave office before January 31, 2018, in order to lead the Ohio Business Roundtable. On January 3, 2018, he announced that he would officially resign on January 15. On January 5, Ohio Governor John Kasich set the primaries for the special election for May 8, and the general election for August 7. The winner of this special election would serve for five months until January 2019, unless also elected in the regularly scheduled November general election.
Ohio's 12th congressional district at the time was located in the central portion of the state and included all of Delaware, Licking, and Morrow counties, as well as portions of Franklin, Marion, Muskingum, and Richland counties. The district had been in Republican hands for all but one term since 1939, and without interruption since 1983.
Republican primary Candidates Nominee Troy Balderson, state senator
Eliminated in primary Kevin Bacon, state senator Lawrence Cohen, accountant Jon Halverstadt, real estate investor Tim Kane, economist, former Air Force intelligence officer Melanie Leneghan, Liberty Township trustee Pat Manley, architect Carol O'Brien, Delaware County Prosecutor
Declined Andrew Brenner, state representative (running for state senate) Anne Gonzales, state representative (running for state senate) John Kasich, governor and former U.S. representative Clarence Mingo, Franklin County Auditor (endorsed Kevin Bacon) JD Vance, author and venture capitalist, future Vice President of the United States
Endorsements
Polling Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Marginof error JohnAdams KevinBacon TroyBalderson GaryChiero LawrenceCohen JonathanHalverstadt TimKane MelanieLeneghan PatManley CarolO'Brien MickShoemakerPublic Opinion Strategies (R-Balderson)Public Opinion Strategies (R-Balderson) April 15–16, 2018 300 ± 5.7% 0% 10% 17% 0% 0% 2% 10% 11% 1% 7% 1%
Results
Democratic primary Candidates Nominee Danny O'Connor, Franklin County Recorder
Eliminated in primary Ed Albertson, businessman and nominee for OH-12 in 2016 Jackie Patton, nurse John Peters, special education teacher John Russell, farmer and nominee for state representative in 2016 Zach Scott, former Franklin County Sheriff Doug Wilson, health care professional
Withdrew Crystal Lett, healthcare advocate
Declined Jeremy Blake, Newark city councilman (running for state representative) Jay Goyal, former state representative and small business owner
Endorsements
Results
Independents Candidates Withdrawn Jonathan Veley, attorney
General election Candidates Troy Balderson (Republican), state senator Joe Manchik (Green), small business owner Danny O'Connor (Democratic), Franklin County Recorder
Predictions +SourceRankingAs ofThe Cook Political Report May 2, 2018Inside Elections/Rothenberg Political Report May 4, 2018Sabato's Crystal Ball July 24, 2018
Endorsements
Polling Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Marginof error TroyBalderson (R) DannyO'Connor (D) JoeManchik (G) Other UndecidedEmerson CollegeEmerson College August 2–4, 2018 431 ± 5.0% 46% 47% – – 7%Monmouth UniversityMonmouth University July 26–31, 2018 512 ± 4.3% 44% 43% 2% 0% 11%Public Policy Polling (D-End Citizens United)Public Policy Polling (D-End Citizens United) July 27–29, 2018 617 ± 4.0% 48% 44% – – –GBA Strategies (D-O'Connor)GBA Strategies (D-O'Connor) July 23–25, 2018 500 ± 4.4% 48% 45% 2% – –GBA Strategies (D-O'Connor) July 10–13, 2018 600 ± 4.0% 48% 43% 5% – –JMC AnalyticsJMC Analytics June 13–16, 2018 500 ± 4.4% 46% 35% 1% – 18%GBA Strategies (D-O'Connor) June 9–12, 2018 500 ± 4.4% 48% 41% 4% – –Monmouth UniversityMonmouth University June 7–10, 2018 501 ± 4.4% 43% 33% 1% 2% 21%Public Policy Polling (D-End Citizens United)Public Policy Polling (D-End Citizens United) May 10–11, 2018 625 ± 3.9% 45% 43% – – 11%
Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Marginof error GenericRepublican GenericDemocrat UndecidedGBA Strategies (D-O'Connor) July 23–25, 2018 500 ± 4.4% 50% 46% –
Results
O'Connor dominated the district's portion of Franklin County, home to the largest share of the district's population. However, he could not overcome a 4,800-vote deficit in normally heavily Republican Delaware County, the largest whole county in the district. Still, this was the closest that a Democrat had come to winning the district since 1982.
County results +Vote breakdown by county Troy BaldersonRepublican Danny O'ConnorDemocrat Joe ManchikGreenTotal County Votes % Votes % Votes % VotesDelaware32,57653.97%27,54845.64%2400.40%60,364Franklin25,20934.45%47,63965.10%3280.45%73,176Licking24,34060.72%15,44338.52%3040.76%40,087Marion1,23668.33%56030.96%130.72%1,809Morrow5,22569.99%2,17329.11%670.90%7,465Muskingum7,92866.43%3,90232.69%1050.88%11,935Richland7,81458.73%5,38340.46%1080.81%13,305
References
External links Troy Balderson (R) for Congress Joe Manchik (G) for Congress Danny O’ Connor (D) for Congress