Republican incumbent Bob Ney defeated Democratic challenger Brian Thomas by about 33 percent in the race for the U.S. House of Representatives.
Ney, R-St. Clairsville, received 173,358 votes, overshadowing Thomas' 87,828.
Ney credited his victory to his candid and straightforward approach to voters.
I stated clearly where I was at on the issues and we promoted that
Ney said.
He also said the support from local unions and business groups as well as their grass-roots efforts were important to their success.
We had a huge win and we're really happy with the support we got Ney said.
Ney, who spent a little more than $1 million on his campaign, ran on a platform of job creation and retention, affordable health care and increasing national security. Now that he has won the election, he said he plans to continue working toward those goals.
We'll roll up our sleeves tomorrow and continue to work to help our community he said. We'll do what we've been doing to work with local authorities to create and retain jobs.
Four townships in Athens County are included in the 18th district. They are Trimble, York, Dover and Waterloo. In Athens County, Thomas received 3,863 votes -about 60 percent - while Ney received 2,581 votes, about 40 percent.
Thomas, of Scio, said last week he would be working until 11 p.m. on Election Day and could not be reached for comment last night. He is a computer numerical control machine operator at Colfor and American Axle Company.
Thomas ran on a platform of job creation and is a strong opponent of NAFTA. He spent almost $16,000 on his campaign but said he thought his blue-collar background would be an asset.
I think (it) gives me a connection to voters
he said.
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Lisa Schwerin
