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Mike Carey, a Trump-backed Republican, wins a House seat in Ohio

In a special election for Ohio's 15th Congressional District on Tuesday night, Republican Mike Carey, a coal lobbyist favored by Donald Trump, defeated Democrat Allison Russo.

Republican Steve Stivers held the U.S. House seat for a decade before resigning after voting to impeach Trump earlier this year over the incident on January 6 in the Capitol.

“The results of Tuesday’s elections will leave Democrats with a 221-213 advantage over Republicans in Congress, with Brown and Carey each retaining a seat for their respective party. A third open congressional seat in Florida, where primaries were being held Tuesday, also is very likely to remain status quo and in Democratic hands,” PBS reported.

“I wanted to be somebody that could go and make a difference in Washington,” he told a crowd of supporters Tuesday night in Lancaster. “Believe me, we have too many career politicians in Washington. That’s the last thing that I will ever be.”

Carey released a statement following his win.

“Tonight the people of Ohio’s Fifteenth Congressional District have placed their trust in me and I could not me more humbled to represent them. Republican, Democrat, or Independent, I promise to fight for every person in this district because the problems facing our nation are beyond partisanship and have real consequences for working families,” he said.

Carey said he spoke with Trump Tuesday night, adding that the former president was “very happy with the votes.”

“Congratulations to Mike Carey on a fantastic victory in Ohio,” Trump said in an emailed statement. “I am very proud to have endorsed him early and strongly. He will be a great congressman!”

Joe Biden endorsed Russo, who raised more money in the district than any Democrat in history.

“There’s a real need for these investments in communities, for critical infrastructure, making sure that we’re addressing the health care needs of people throughout the district, and opportunity,” Russo said before polls closed. “At the end of the day, this is really why I ran for Congress is because people just want access to opportunity.”

The governor election in Virginia between Republican Glenn Youngkin and Democrat Terry McAuliffe was the other widely anticipated election on Tuesday night.

Youngkin — a Republican endorsed by Donald Trump — has been declared the winner.

Youngkin had been leading in the polls all week.

In a recent Fox News poll, Democrat contender Terry McAuliffe, the former governor of Virginia, is substantially behind.

Since 2009, no Republican has won a statewide election in Virginia, and Joe Biden won the state in the presidential election in 2020.

Despite Biden's support for McAuliffe, Youngkin, the Republican candidate, surged ahead in a recent survey just days before the election.

Youngkin was polling at 53% among probable voters, compared to McAuliffe's paltry 45%.

Prior to Tuesday's election, Democratic pollster Chris Anderson had been sounding the alarm.

“With the race essentially tied among the full registered voter universe, McAuliffe could still pull this off,” says Anderson, who conducts the Fox News survey along with Republican Daron Shaw. “But it would take something big to ignite enthusiasm for McAuliffe’s candidacy and a massively effective get out the vote effort.”

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