May 02, 2006
OH 18: Ney Gets Turnout
Embattled Rep. Bob Ney got what he wanted tonight: a solid two-thirds of the GOP vote and an increased turnout in his sprawling district in southeast Ohio. Although he has a long way to go before he can claim a seat in the 110th Congress--and survive the Justice Department investigation of his role in the Jack Abramoff scandal -- Ney drew dividends from his low-profile efforts in recent months to curry favor with local GOP leaders.
That's shown by the increased turnout in several of his larger counties, compared to the primary vote in the 2002 midterm election. In Coshocton, Knox, Holmes, Muskingum, and Tuscarawas Counties, the Republican vote in the House primary exceeded the party vote in the 2002 primary by anywhere from 15 to 100 per cent. Also significant is that the 46,000-plus votes already tabulated in the GOP primary in OH-18 exceeds the 42,000-plus votes in the Democratic primary. [RICHARD COHEN]
Posted at 11:37 PM
Comments
Yesterday, 34,151 Republicans turned out for a primary election to vote for Bob Ney. 15,789 voted for a candidate who did not raise funds, or campaign - let's just call him Not Bob Ney. So about 34k voters have turned out in support of Ney, and about 58k have cast a primary ballot in opposition to his candidacy. How exactly is this good news for Ney?
In the two of the five counties you name, Ney did worse than he did in the district as a whole. Turnout was indeed up from 2002 - when, you might have mentioned, Ney ran unnopposed. Knox county increased its turnout by about 100%, a stunning figure. In 2002, 2,598 Knox Republicans voted in his support. This time around, 2,818 Knox Republicans voted for him - and 2,291 voted against him.
So is turnout up? Absolutely! But in 2002, Ney received 33,863 votes, and in 2006, 34,151. If turnout is up, it's because opposition is up - not a good sign at all.
Fly on the Wall | 05.03.06 12:17 PM
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