Troy Balderson (R) can now settle down in Washington, D.C., roll up his sleeves, and get to work for Ohio’s 12th Congressional District.
In Tuesday’s election, Ohio voters cast 333,130 votes in the race for Ohio’s 12th Congressional District, and Balderson received 51.56 percent of the total vote (171,757 votes). His main opponent in the race, Danny O’Connor (D), received 47.09 percent of the total votes (156,863), while Joe Manchik (G) received 1.35 percent of the votes (4,510).
“I am honored to earn the support of voters again in Ohio’s 12th Congressional District,” Balderson said in a statement issued by his campaign manager Jenna Knepper. “I will continue to work relentlessly for the people in this district.”
Balderson campaigned on the fact that he has a track record for problem-solving and said that in Congress, he’ll address the unsustainable levels of national debt the country now faces.
“I have a track record of solving problems in Ohio,” he said in a previous Gazette article. “From cutting taxes and replenishing the rainy day fund, to leading the fight to bring 500,000 new jobs to Ohio. I led the fight to eliminate the state’s deficit, after Ted Strickland left Ohio in crisis, and to replenish the rainy-day fund without raising taxes,” he said. “I’ll work to do the same in Congress.”
In Delaware County, where Balderson had proclaimed more than once that it was “the critical county” in the election, he received 50,672 votes (54.97 percent), O’Connor received 40,481 votes (43.92 percent), and Manchik received 1,025 votes (1.11 percent).
O’Connor conceded the race to Balderson Tuesday evening via a phone call.
“I want to congratulate Troy Balderson and thank my grassroots supporters for building this incredible movement for new leadership with me,” O’Connor said. “We went door-to-door and made our case for change. Thank you to everyone who voted for me and to the volunteers who made thousands of calls and knocked on thousands of doors across this district for our campaign. I am so grateful to my family, my team, and the thousands of volunteers who built our grassroots campaign into a movement — thank you.”
Manchik could not be reached for comment.