Lucas County stays blue as Ohio turns dark red

Story and photos by Lori King

TOLEDO – As Ohio, and much of the country, awoke this morning to a red wave, it was a different story for the blue dot that is Lucas County.

The mood at the democratic watch party inside the UAW Local 12 Union Hall on Tuesday night was mostly cheerful as hundreds of supporters and elected officials celebrated each time a local democrat claimed victory, or a local issue passed, like Issue 9, the Toledo mayoral term limit expansion.

But, at times, there were bouts of somber silence as they watched Issue 1 fail and realized businessman Bernie Marino was going to defeat populist Sherrod Brown.

To read the full story, go to Democratic Watch Party.

Bernie Marino is big local winner of election night

Story and photos by Scott W. Grau

HOLLAND – Supporters, volunteers, elected officials and candidates gathered at the Lucas County Republican Party election night watch party at the Holland Gardens Banquet Hall on Tuesday night to watch the results of the local, state and national elections.

Derek Merrin, running for U.S. House of Representatives against incumbent Marcy Kaptur, made a late-night appearance but chose not to make a speech to his supporters. Although he was behind in the vote count against Kaptur, the margin of difference was less than 0.05 percent, which automatically triggers a vote recount.

The makeshift stage Merrin would have made either a victory or concession speech from remained empty for the night.

To read the full story, go to Republican Watch Party.