As the night progresses, we’ve seen significant swings in the Ohio Governor’s race. In early returns, Republican John Kasich led, then incumbent Democratic Governor Ted Strickland surged into the lead, and now Kasich has moved into a slight lead.
In Ohio, the issue of where the votes have been counted can be highly significant. Although Ohio, as a whole, is a swing state, the Buckeye State really is a bunch of enclaves. When you consider interim statewide results, you must consider whether it is Democratic strongholds that been counted or Republican areas that have been tallied first.
Here in central Ohio, the Stivers-Kilroy case in the 15th District has not been called, although Stivers has a significant lead with more than half of the votes counted. In our district, the 12th, about a third of the votes have been counted and Republican incumbent Pat Tiberi has a surprisingly small lead over Democratic challenger Paula Brooks.
As of 10:20 p.m. Eastern time, there is still a lot to be decided.