Wednesday November 3, 2010 year: 130 No. 146 the student voice of
The Ohio State University
www.thelantern.com
thelantern
Republicans take Ohio How it all played out
Governor
Kasich 49% Strickland 47%
U.S. Senate 7% 5 an 9% m t 3 r Po sher Fi
Ohio Secretary of State
CODY COUSINO / Lantern photographer
Governor-elect John Kasich kisses his wife, Karen, on stage with their two daughters, Emma and Reese, after his victory speech around 1:30 a.m.
% 54 41% d ste essy u H ghn hau S ’ O
Ohio 15th District
4% 5 rs 1% e v i St roy 4 Kil
Issues
Library Levy — Passed with 66% Columbus Charter Amendment — Passed with 64%
Kasich wins
Governor-elect pulled off narrow victory after being tied in polls Monday MOLLY GRAY Managing editor gray.557@osu.edu Just two years after Ohio voters helped elect President Barack Obama, the historically red state went back to its roots. Ohioans took their disappointment with government spending, high unemployment and Democratic incumbents’ policies to the voting booths and decided it was time for change. That change includes Governor-elect John Kasich, along with Republicans regaining control of the U.S. House of Representatives, winning seats in the Senate and the Ohio secretary of state’s ofÿce. “We took a step forward, to shrinking government and to making it work,” Kasich said. “We took a step to making Ohio a better place to live and work.” The mood at each party’s election gathering re° ected the evening’s results. With blue light projected on the ceiling of the Renaissance Hotel and “Taking Back Ohio” lights on the walls, the atmosphere at the Republican party was electric. When “Hang on Sloopy” played, the crowd burst out with chants of “O-H-I-O.” The volume increased when Fox News projected the Republicans would take over the House at about 9:10 p.m.
At the Democratic election party at the Hyatt Regency, however, the atmosphere was subdued. Aside from Strickland’s concession speech, there were few cheers. “We didn’t have a good night nationally tonight, we know that,” said Sen. Sherrod Brown, whose seat was not up for a vote. Kasich wasn’t the only Republican to have success in gubernatorial races. Twenty-one other states had projected Republican winners by 1:30 a.m. The Democratic Party was projected to narrowly retain control of the U.S. Senate. Democrats will need to convince moderate voters of their stance on the economy and the deÿcit before the 2012 election, said Charles Stewart, a visiting scholar at the Ohio State Moritz College of Law and a professor of political science at MIT. There will “probably not (be) a lot of major legislation over the next two years” because of a split House and Senate, Stewart said. As of Monday, Strickland and Kasich were tied, according to Quinnipiac polls. But Ohio voters were fueled by the 400,000 jobs lost during Strickland’s two-year tenure as governor. Ohio’s unemployment rate was 10 percent in September, down from 10.1 percent in August, but remained higher than the national average, which stayed at 9.6 percent, according to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.
continued as Kasich on 3A
MOLLY GRAY / Lantern design editor
Police: OSU law student stole books from Moritz library to sell online ALLY MAROTTI Lantern reporter marotti.5@osu.edu Police say an Ohio State law student stole books from the Moritz Law Library and sold them on Amazon.com Inc. for almost $10,300. The suspect has sold about 232 books since becoming a seller in January and still has about 1,351 for sale, according to court documents. Prices range from $15 to $200 per book. The Lantern will not name the suspect, as he has not yet been charged with a crime. Detective Peter Dragonette of OSU Police, who is in charge of the case, said the suspect has been taking books from the law library in Drinko Hall for about a year. A Brazilian attorney was the ÿrst to realize something was wrong. Juliana Bertin purchased a law book from Orion Bookstore, an Amazon seller, in July. When she received the book, she noticed crossed-out OSU Moritz Law Library stamps inside the front cover. Bertin e-mailed Bruce Johnson, associate dean for Information Services at the OSU Moritz College of Law, who conÿrmed that the law library had the book in its collection and that it should be available. When Johnson checked to see if the book was on the shelf, it was missing.
continued as Law on 3A
Rough start only got worse for Democrats RICK SCHANZ Campus editor schanz.5@osu.edu Tuesday night didn’t start out well for the Democrats. Just after polls closed at 7:30 p.m., Republican Rob Portman was named winner of Ohio’s available Senate seat over opponent Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher. If any Democratic leaders had arrived early enough at their party’s celebration in downtown Columbus, hopeful faces quickly would have turned sour. And it only got worse. Just after 9 p.m., the red tide washed over Washington as Republicans were projected to take control of the House of Representatives, according to CNN. Soon after, Republican Jon Husted defeated incumbent Democrat Maryellen O’Shaughnessy to become Ohio’s secretary of state. But to some, election results simply realized Democratic fears and Republican hopes to shift power in Congress. Before voting booths even opened, polls indicated that Portman would win by a landslide. His cruise to victory preserved the Republican seat in the Senate that Sen. George Voinovich is vacating in retirement. The lopsided victory bodes well for a man who some say has White House aspirations.
CODY COUSINO / Lantern photographer
Senator-elect Rob Portman waves to supporters with his wife Jane after a decisive victory on Tuesday. “Portman gets talked about as a potential Republican candidate for president,” said Terri Enns, clinical professor of law at Ohio State’s Moritz College of Law. After Portman’s victory Tuesday, Ohio Republican Party chairman Kevin DeWine said that Portman is “on the short list for vice president in 2012.”
Marianne Collins, an attendee at the Republican election party at the Hyatt Regency, said she would look forward to a ticket with Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker as president and Portman as his running mate.
continued as Results on 3A 1A