For live election results from the Paul Hackett (D) vs. Jean Schmidt (R) contest in Ohio's 2nd district, click here or here. Polls close at 7:30 PM, and this one could very well be close. For those of you who haven't been following this race, Hackett is trying to become the first Iraq war combat veteran elected to Congress. He and his opponent, Jean Schmidt, are vying to replace Rep. Rob Portman, whose heavily Republican district (President Bush won 64% of the vote in November) opened up when Bush appointed him U.S. trade representative back in March. As one Ohio blog puts it:
However this turns out today, Hackett's campaign has given 2006 Democrats an effective blueprint--anti-war, anti-corruption, anti-stupid; pro individual freedom, pro shared responsibility, pro smart, strong defense; and maybe most important, strong netroots support ( the DCCC didn't even know this race was going on until the blogs got excited about it ) . If Hackett comes within five points of Schmidt, it's a proven blueprint. If he wins in the OH-2, it's the Holy Grail.
Sounds like a winning platform to me. Go Paul!
[UPDATE 8:51 PM
PAUL HACKETT 13,512 51%
JEAN SCHMIDT 12,802 49%
175 of 753 precincts reporting]
[UPDATE 9:13 PM
PAUL HACKETT 23,957 51%
JEAN SCHMIDT 22,846 49%
305 of 753 precincts reporting]
[UPDATE 9:31 PM
JEAN SCHMIDT 45,134 52%
PAUL HACKETT 42,342 48%
580 precincts of 753 reporting]
[UPDATE Final
JEAN SCHMIDT 57,974 52%
PAUL HACKETT 54,501 48%
753 precincts of 753 reporting]