DEMS/ELECTION/GOP/TRUMP PEOPLE: “Voters rushed to the polls Tuesday [8-7-18] to decide the final House special election before the midterms, with Republicans pouring millions of dollars into central Ohio to avoid a demoralizing loss just three months before the November elections. The GOP cavalry dashed in to pull its candidate, Troy Balderson, across the finish line in a district that last went Democratic nearly four decades ago. Republican groups have spent more than $5 million on TV ads and dispatched top surrogates to the 12th District outside Columbus to rally the base. President Donald Trump, who carried the district by 11 points in the 2016 presidential race, campaigned for Balderson last weekend, a move that Republicans hoped would energize GOP partisans ahead of the vote. But Republicans also worried that Trump’s polarizing appearance would alienate moderate, suburban voters long cultivated by GOP politicians like Gov. John Kasich, who once represented the district, which is split between suburbs of Columbus trending away from Trump and rural counties that support him more heavily. Polls closed there at 7:30 Eastern. Danny O’Connor, the Democratic special election nominee, has tailored his campaign to win over anti-Trump Republicans and independents, promising not to support Nancy Pelosi for speaker and distancing himself from the more liberal policies gaining favor within his party. But O’Connor is also riding a wave of energy from motivated Democratic voters who hope the Ohio race represents a first step toward winning control of the House of Representatives in November.”
-Elena Schneider, “Polls close in Ohio special election,” Politico, August 7, 2018 7:31 pm