Michigan Republican Unseated After Losing to Democrat by 20 Points

[bnew]

Michigan Republican unseated after losing to Democrat by 20 points

The ousted Republican incumbent Lucy Ebel had previously described Ottawa County as "very conservative."

www.newsweek.com

Michigan Republican Unseated After Losing to Democrat by 20 Points​

Published May 08, 2024 at 4:36 AM EDTUpdated May 08, 2024 at 7:14 AM EDT


Donald Trump Beating Joe Biden by 15 Points In One Battleground State: Poll

By Kate Plummer
FOLLOW

A Republican county commissioner has been unseated in Michigan after losing to her Democratic challenger by 20 percentage points.

Chris Kleinjans won an Ottawa County election on Tuesday with 60 percent of the vote share, while the Republican incumbent Lucy Ebel lost, having received 40 percent.

Michigan is a battleground state that will be key to November's presidential election. Donald Trump won the county with 61 percent of the vote in 2020.

Newsweek contacted the Michigan Republican Party by email outside of normal business hours to comment on this story and will update this story if there is a reply.

The Context​

A voting location sign is seen outside of a polling station at Oakman Elementary School on February 27, 2024 in Dearborn, Michigan. The ousted GOP incumbent previously described her county as "very conservative." PHOTO BY KEVIN DIETSCH/GETTY IMAGES

Ebel had faced a recall petition that was signed by some 3,000 people after she voted in favor of a motion to reverse Adeline Hambley's selection as the top health official in the county on February 28, 2023. There were concerns about the legality of the motion.

What happens in Michigan may indicate the result of the 2024 election as it is a key swing state. In 2016, Trump, the presumptive Republican candidate for the election, took Michigan, but incumbent President Joe Biden flipped it back in 2020, suggesting that the result in 2024 will be tight in this state.

So far, some polls have said that Biden will win the state, while others have shown Trump will gain it, and experts have said it is too early to call the result.

What We Know​

Ebel had said that she would win her election. "If I know that people of Ottawa County and District Two, they're very conservative, and I think that they will want to keep Ottawa County conservative," she told Fox 17 prior to the vote.

However, Ebel gained 1,665 votes, while Kleinjans won 2,502. Initial voter data showed a voter turnout of 20.6 percent across the county.

Views​

"I am grateful and humbled that the hardworking people of this district have put their trust and confidence in me," Kleinjans said in a prepared statement after winning the vote.

"The voters of District 2 made it clear that they reject the chaos, fiscal irresponsibility, and disrespect for county employees that exemplify Lucy Ebel and Ottawa Impact's style of government, and I will work every day to turn that around."

Mark Shanahan, who teaches American politics at the University of Surrey in the U.K., told Newsweek: " Democrats may take some satisfaction at the Republican defeat in Ottawa County, West Michigan, but the recall election drew just 20 percent of the county's voters to the polls, a little over 4,000 in total, and can hardly be taken as an indicator of which way the presidential votes will go come November.

"What's notable is that the failed Republican candidate is part of the ultra-conservative 'Ottawa Impact' group, which has been successful in gaining a number of elected roles across the county. Democrats will very much hope that such right-wing grassroot groups are losing their grip on voters, and that this trend continues all the way up the ballot. But one local election is hardly a satisfactory portent of that," Shanahan added.

What's Next?​

Kleinjans will serve on the board for the remainder of 2024.

Then, Ebel and Kleinjans have both filed to run for a four-year term in the general election.

Meanwhile, the extent to which this election is indicative of what will happen in the presidential election remains to be seen. This will take place on November 5.

Update: 5/8/2024, 5:45 a.m. EST: This story was updated with additional information and background

 

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Spoiler: full text

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BREAKING: Ottawa County Commissioner Lucy Ebel has lost in the special election. The unofficial results show that Democrat Chris Kleinjans won 60% to 40%.


To post tweets in this format, more info here: https://www.thecoli.com/threads/tips-and-tricks-for-posting-the-coli-megathread.984734/post-52211196

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Lucy Ebel ousted from Ottawa County Board of Commissioners in recall vote

Ottawa County Commissioner Lucy Ebel was voted out of office thanks to a recall effort. Christian Kleinjans will serve on the board for the rest of the year.

www.fox17online.com

Lucy Ebel ousted from Ottawa County Board of Commissioners in recall vote​

Photo by: Campaigns of Christian Kleinjans and Lucy Ebel
Official headshots of Christian Kleinjans and Lucy Ebel, who face off in a recall election for the District 2 seat on the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners.

By: FOX 17 News
Posted at 10:35 PM, May 07, 2024
and last updated 11:10 PM, May 07, 2024

HOLLAND TOWNSHIP, Mich. — An Ottawa County commissioner was voted out of office thanks to a recall effort.

Voters in Holland and Park Township decided to remove Lucy Ebel as their representative on the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners. Christian Kleinjans received 2502 votes to Ebel's 1665 votes to claim the District 2 seat for the remainder of the term ending in December.

Kleinjans is part of the Ottawa County Community Emergency Response Team, a member of the board of Community Mental Health of Ottawa County and the Advisory Board of Ottawa Food. He is also a member of the American Legion and VFW.

“I am grateful and humbled that the hardworking people of this district have put their trust and confidence in me,” Kleinjans said in a prepared statement. “The voters of District 2 made it clear that they reject the chaos, fiscal irresponsibility, and disrespect for county employees that exemplify Lucy Ebel and Ottawa Impact’s style of government, and I will work every day to turn that around.”

More than 3,000 people signed a petition to recall Ebel over her vote supporting the removal of Ottawa County's Health Officer Adeline Hambley.
Ebel was the only Ottawa County commissioner who had a recall petition receive enough support to trigger an election. She claimed the effort was racially motivated.

Both Kleinjans and Ebel have filed to run for the District 2 seat in the November 2024 election. Kleinjans is running as the sole Democrat; Ebel faces a challenge in the Republican primary which will be held August 6.

 

[chineebai]

that bytch teeth look like chipped rocks.

 

[Elim Garak]

Thecoli will ignore this. I posted this about Dems overperforming in a NY special election a few weeks ago also.

You will have to change Gary dikkson's name in the URL because thecoli edited it.

source:

https://www.newsweek.com/democrats-...election-timothy-kennedy-gary-dikkson-1895916

Timothy Kennedy, a Democratic New York state senator, has won the special election for the Congressional seat vacated by the retired Democrat Brian Higgins.

Kennedy easily defeated his Republican opponent Gary dikkson for New York's 26th district seat, which includes Buffalo and Niagara Falls.

While Kennedy's victory was widely anticipated in the left-leaning district, the vote margin between both candidates was much larger than forecast.

Kennedy won by more than 36 percentage points—a massive performance by the Democratic Party. The Cook Political Report, an independent newsletter that analyzes elections and campaigns, had expected the district to perform about nine points more Democratic (D+9) in a two-party vote.

A former occupational therapist and father of three children, Kennedy has served in the state Senate since 2011. In 2018, when the Democratic Party won the majority in the Senate, he was appointed chair of the Transportation, Infrastructure, and Capital Investment Committee.

With 94 percent of votes counted early on Wednesday, Kennedy had 46,527 votes against dikkson's 21,685, according to data reported by The New York Times.

Newsweek contacted Kennedy's press office for comment by email early on Wednesday.

The Democratic senator's triumph to take the temporarily vacant seat means that the Republican Party's narrow majority in the House of Representatives is now even thinner and reduced to a single vote. He will serve until the end of the year and will be then run in the general election.

 

[feelosofer]

Red Wave is more like a piss puddle.

 

[Gloxina]