Trump claims premature credit for Troy Balderson's 'great victory' in Ohio special election

Congressional candidate Troy Balderson rallies with Trump

(Image credit: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images)

published 8 August 2018

President Trump traveled to Ohio last weekend to campaign for Republican Troy Balderson ahead of Tuesday's special election in Ohio's 12th congressional district. Balderson was in an unexpectedly competitive race against Democrat Danny O'Connor in a suburban Columbus district that voted for Trump by 11 percentage points in 2016 and has sent only one Democrat to Congress, briefly, since 1936.

In fact, with 100 percent of precincts reporting — and 3,435 provisional ballots and 5,048 absentee ballots yet to be counted — Balderson is up by just 0.9 points, or 1,754 votes. Trump's advisers had reportedly urged him to refrain from endorsing candidates, and he's having a mixed night: Balderson is up, and endorsee John James won in Michigan's GOP Senate primary, but in Kansas, Kris Kobach — whom Trump endorsed on Monday — is struggling in his bid to unseat Gov. Jeff Colyer (R).

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.