After a congressional race involving accusations of corruption and tales of bankruptcy, Democrat Zack Space emerged from yesterday's election as the 18th District's new representative to the U.S. House.
Republican Joy Padgett, formerly state senator from the 20th District, conceded to Space. Space will fill the seat vacated by Republican Bob Ney, who resigned after pleading guilty to corruption charges involving the acceptance of gifts from convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
Space, the city of Dover's law director, received 61 percent of the votes tallied by press time, which did not include Athens County. Padgett received 38 percent of tallied votes.
Heightened concern about the economy and a desire for a change in leadership brought about Space's victory and the success of Democrats in many other congressional races, Space said.
I think the voters in the district were in need of change
he said. There's a lot of anxiety in this district about jobs. A lot of people have lost their jobs. There's a lot of anxiety about pensions. There's a lot of anxiety about being able to send their children to college.
Because the special election for a Republican replacement for Ney was not until Sept. 14, Padgett said she had less time to campaign. Criticism because of the bankruptcy of the store owned by her and her husband, as well as attempts to connect her to Ney and corruption, were other deciding factors in yesterday's election, she said.
The biggest challenge was time she said. When you've got a 16-county congressional race it's really difficult to reach out to people. I did not have time to respond to some of the ads.
Padgett said she hopes that despite her loss, things can change, which she also told Space.
What I did do was offer anything I could do to help him
Padgett said. It's very important that we all come together now to move the 18th congressional district ahead.
To turn things around, Space said he plans to avoid the partisanship prevalent in Washington, D.C.
I'm there to serve families in the district
and if that means crossing party lines
so be it
he said. I'm beholden to no one but the people I represent. I'm in this to work for and develop the interests and the needs of the families in the district.
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Amanda Teuscher
