Marcy Kaptur claims victory

SANDUSKY — U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Toledo, has officially won re-election. The Associated Press called the race for Kaptur Wednesday, and Ohio's secretary of state, Frank LaRose, also indicated on a social media posting that Kaptur had won. Although unofficial numbers after the Nov. 5 showed Kaptur with a narrow lead, final certified numbers widened her lead Wednesday and, apparently, show an automatic recount will not be required. Kaptur won a narrow victory over state Rep. Derek Merrin, R-Monclova Township. A third candidate, Libertarian Tom Pruss, won about 4% of the vote and may have affected the outcome. "The people of Ohio's 9th District have spoken, and I am deeply grateful for the trust they have placed in me to continue fighting for working families, creating good-paying jobs, protecting health care for everyone and securing Social Security and Medicare so Ohioans can retire with dignity," Kaptur said in a statement released Wednesday. "This campaign has always been about the strength and resilience of our communities, and today we celebrate not just a victory but a renewed commitment to the belief that what America makes and grows, makes and grows America," Kaptur said. She continued: "Together, we have delivered for northwest Ohio, reinvesting in our communities, our industries and our people. I am inspired by the hardworking people across our district who fuel our economy every day and pledge to continue our work to grow jobs here at home, strengthen our manufacturing sector and ensure dignity and stability for everyone who works hard and plays by the rules. It is time to put partisanship aside and get back to work for America's 'Big Middle.'" The Ohio Secretary of State's office released final numbers late Wednesday afternoon. According to that announcement: • Kaptur has 181,098 votes or 48.27% of the total vote. • Merrin has 178,716 votes or 47.63% of the total vote. • Pruss has 15,381 or 4.1% of the total vote. An automatic recount is triggered when the numbers are less than 0.5% apart, but Kaptur's margin is slightly bigger, 0.64%. The figures show she had 2,382 more votes. Although the margin is too large to trigger an automatic recount, Merrin can request a recount if he pays for the expense. He has five days to make a request. Merrin's campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment. On Nov. 6, he had posted on X.com, "Our team is working to ensure every vote is properly counted so an accurate tally can be determined. There are thousands of provisional ballots left to be counted & absentee ballots still to be delivered." As of about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, he had not made a follow-up post on X. On X, LaRose wrote this on Wednesday: "We're getting final election results today from our 88 counties. Based on what I'm seeing in (the 9th Congressional District), the margin falls outside the automatic recount requirement. Counties are still sending in their official canvass reports, and I'll formally certify the statewide results on 12/2." Wednesday marked the deadline for county election boards to certify final election results. Each election board had to review provisional ballots and absentee ballots which came in late. Kaptur, 78, a Toledo native, won her first race for Congress in 1982. Most of her re-election victories since then have not been close, but the 9th District was redrawn after the 2020 census and has become very competitive. The district includes Sandusky and Port Clinton.