The Green Party candidate in the race for Ohio’s 12th Congressional District conceded the Aug. 7 special election on Wednesday to Republican candidate Troy Balderson.

“It’s kind of a no-brainer,” said Joe Manchik, G-Reynoldsburg, during a phone interview with The Gazette Wednesday. “I am on the November ballot where I think my chances will be better if I can get some media coverage.”

Manchik said he couldn’t get any broadcast coverage because all the local stations were only covering state Sen. Balderson, R-Zanesville, and Franklin County Recorder Danny O’Connor, the Democratic candidate for the Congressional district. He did mention that he was to be interviewed by Fox News this coming weekend in which he said it could help his chances in November.

“No one knew I was on the ballot,” he said. We need to “get the news out about the Green Party.”

Manchik said following the special election, he was trending on Twitter because of an article in “The Daily Mail,” a British tabloid.

“Democrats were calling me a spoiler, because I was taking votes away from Danny O’Connor,” he said about the article.

In regard to Manchik, the British tabloid reported he was “descended from aliens.”

Unofficially, Manchik placed third in the special election, netting 1,127 (.56 percent) of the 202,521 total votes cast in the district. In Delaware County, Manchik received 226 (.38 percent) of the 58,902 votes cast.

Balderson, the unofficial winner of the special election, earned 50.15 percent of the vote, 101,574 of the 202,521 total district votes. Currently, the Delaware County Board of Elections has Balderson receiving 31,750 (53.95 percent) votes out of the 58,902 votes cast in the county.

O’Connor currently sits a close second to Balderson, earning 99,820 (49.29 percent) of the 202,521 total district votes. The Delaware County Board of Elections reports O’Connor received 26,874 (45.67) out of the 58,902 votes cast in the county.

In a press release from Secretary of State Jon Husted, the unofficial districtwide voter turnout rate for the Ohio 12th Congressional District special election was 37.23 percent.

“County boards of elections reported that 3,435 provisional ballots were cast, and there were 5,048 outstanding absentee ballots,” the press release states.

Title 35 of Ohio Revised Code states, boards of elections cannot begin the official canvas of ballots to certify results until 11 days after the election, so all boards may begin their official canvas of ballots Aug. 18 with the process being completed and certified by the Franklin County Board of Elections, the most populous county in the district, by Aug. 24.

According to the Delaware County Board of Elections report, the unofficial voter turnout rate in the county for the special election was 42.37 percent out of 139,020 registered voters, with 58,902 total votes cast. The voter turnout rate for the special election in Delaware County was almost double the May 8 primary turnout, which was 24.41 percent with 33,683 ballots cast in that election.

Karla Herron, director of the Delaware County Board of Elections, previously reported that approximately 1,000 absentee ballots had been requested from the board for the special election. She said that 1,079 provisional ballots had been cast in the election.

The Delaware County Board of Elections’ official canvas is scheduled for Monday, Aug. 20, beginning at 9 a.m.