The GOP's Likely Win in Super-Close Ohio Election Is Still Very Bad News for Them

Democrats were hopeful that candidate Danny O’Connor could win the special election in Ohio’s 12th Congressional District on Tuesday night, where he ran against Trump-endorsed Republican Troy Balderson. The seat opened up when Republican incumbent Rep. Pat Tiberi resigned to join the private sector. Winning it would have normally been a huge long shot for Democrats, but 2018’s political dynamics have changed everything.

However, it looks like O’Connor isn’t going to pull it off. With 100 percent of counties reporting, Balderson has 50.2 percent of the vote to O’Connor’s 49.3 percent. The candidates were separated by 1,754 votes.

But the election still hasn’t been called. There are nearly 4,000 provisional and absentee ballots left to count, according to MSNBC’s Steve Kornacki.

A professor at University of Florida says it’s even more.

Many voters were also purged from the rolls since the 2016 election, something that might have hurt O’Connor.

Some are predicting that this will end in a recount. It could be days until we know the final results. No matter what, the virtual tie is still a very bad sign for Republicans, who, in normal times, would have had no trouble winning this race.

Whoever wins, they won’t be safe for long—the seat will be up for grabs again in November, when the regular election rolls around. As closely as this race was followed tonight, when the midterms come, it will be just one of hundreds of seats that Democrats hope to win in their predicted “Blue Wave.”