Latta expands lead in close 5th Congressional District race

11/6/2007

(Updated at 2:22 a.m.) BOWLING GREEN Voting machine glitches in Putnam County delayed returns on the 5th Congressional District Republican primary, leaving an intense race unsettled late into the night. With 86 percent of the votes counted, State Rep. Bob Latta (R., Bowling Green) led State Sen. Steve Buehrer (R., Delta) by a slim 1,281-vote margin out of 51,873 votes casts between the two candidates.

(Updated at 11:39 p.m.) With nearly all of the votes counted, former Toledo Mayor Jack Ford and Lisa Sobecki, the "Mom on a Mission," have been elected to the Toledo Board of Education. Mr. Ford, who was Toledo mayor from January, 2002, to January, 2006, and Ms. Sobecki, a longtime parent volunteer, won more than 17,500 votes each. Endorsed Republican Chris Myers, a University of Michigan Webmaster, followed in a distant third place with about 7,500 votes from 271 out of 275 precincts.

(Posted at 10:21 p.m.) In Wood County, voters in Northwood defeated a new, 5.9-mill continuing levy for the local school district. School officials said the money was needed because of inflatation. In Luckey, longtime village Mayor Harley Jacobs lost his seat. The new mayor is newcomer Belinda Brooks, who also edged out Councilman Harold Wachter.

(Posted at 9:50 p.m.) While tax levies are failing all across northwest Ohio, spirits are up in the polls. Four of five liquor license issues on the ballot in Lucas County are winning easily, while a fifth is trailing by just four votes. At 9:30 p.m., liquor license votes for The Andersons, Buffalo Wild Wings, Giannos Italian Bistro, and Keeter's Sports Bar & Grill were all comfortably ahead. Oregon Fuel Mart's option trailed 29-25.

(Posted at 9:40 p.m.) Voters in Erie County have approved, by a 56 percent margin, an additional 5.4-mill operating levy for the Sandusky City School District. Also in the city of Sandusky, voters narrowly approved the redevelopment of the Marina District at Battery Park. The $155 million, privately funded project will add residential and hotel infrastructure to about 12 acres of the approximately 30-acre parcel, keeping the rest public park space.

(Posted at 9:45 p.m.) In Ottawa County, Republican Debra L. Hymore-Tester was elected mayor of Port Clinton. She defeated Jeffrey Thomas Morgan 1211-888. A county-wide, three-year renewal levy to maintain senior citizens' services passed 9,540-2,292. The services include, but are not limited to home-delivered and congregate meals, respite care and day care for Alzheimer's patients.

(Posted at 8:58 p.m.) The first area election results released tonight were from Monroe County in Michigan, where Monroe City Councilman Mark Worrell was elected as the city's new mayor, winning the five-person race with 1,762 votes. Mr. Worrell, who served on city council for 20 years between 1980 and 2003, will replace Mayor C.D. "Al" Cappuccilli, who is not seeking re-election.

(Posted at 8:03 p.m.) Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner filed suit in the Franklin County Common Pleas Court to keep polls open in Putnam County until 9 p.m. According to the lawsuit, some of the voting machines used for today's special 5th district congressional primary in the county had been experiencing "intermittent failures." Ms. Brunner's suit asked the court to keep the polls open an extra 90 minutes. The faulty voting machines were on loan from the Franklin County Board of Elections, and were needed because all of Putnam County's machines were destroyed by flooding earlier this year. According to a news release from Ms. Brunner's office, similar machines on loan from Franklin County used for Tuesday's general election didn't experience such failures. Paper ballots are being distributed for the special congressional primary. Ms. Brunner also asked all 16 counties holding special congressional primary elections to delay reporting results until 9 p.m.

(Posted at 8:51 p.m.) The night's winners and losers are not what Lucas County Board of Elections Director Jill Kelly will remember most about the 2007 election. Rather, what will first come to her mind is the phone call telling her one of her female poll worker's water broke on site, thus sending her into labor. "Oh my God," Ms. Kelly said when asked of her reaction. "I wonder if she'll name [her child] after me."

(Posted at 8:13 p.m.) About 25 people voted on paper ballots in Oregon this morning because of a malfunction with the electronic ballot encoder, a Lucas County official said. Dan Pilrose, deputy director for the county board of elections, said the problem occurred at the Oregon Administration building, or the Oregon 3 precinct. Mr. Pilrose said the problem was corrected by 10 a.m., and all of those paper ballots used will be counted tonight. He said the board suspects the problem was caused by a supervisor's voting card being inserted into the encoder, which would've erased all of the pertinent information from the machine.

(Updated at 5 p.m.) Putnam County wants to let its voters have until 9 p.m. to vote in Ohio s 5th Congressional District special primary. Carla Tooman, deputy Putnam elections director, told The Blade that special authorization for more voting time was being sought from state officials late this afternoon and only for that contest. Some though not all of the machines used for today s election have malfunctioned for the primary only, while performing adequately for items on the separate, regular ballot, Ms. Tooman said.

(Posted at 10:30 a.m.) COLUMBUS -- The State Highway Patrol is warning about a scam that can hijack your phone and ring up big bills. A spokesman says the patrol is alerting Ohio consumers after a woman in central Ohio got a call from someone claiming to be a law enforcement officer and asking her to dial a number beginning with the "*'' (star) key, then "72."

(Posted at 12:10 p.m.) MIAMI A teacher was shot Tuesday outside at a Miami-area high school during an apparent robbery, a school district spokesman said.

(Posted at 2:07 p.m.) WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with Hunter Fan Co., of Memphis, Tenn., announced a voluntary recall of Warm Mist Carefree Humidifiers. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed.

(Posted at 2:40 p.m.) Polaris Industries Inc., of Medina, Minn., is recalling about 28,000 snowmobiles manufactured in the U.S.

(Posted at 3:00 p.m.) WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with Fisher-Price Inc., of East Aurora, N.Y. , announced a voluntary recall of about 155,000 Laugh & Learn Learning Kitchen Toys manufactured in Mexico.

(Posted at 3:40 p.m.) WASHINGTON, D.C. - Swimways Corp., of Virginia Beach, Va., announced a voluntary recall of about 31,000 Skippy Pool Toys manufactured in China. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed.