Joe
Uecker pulled far ahead of four other candidates to
gain the 66th district seat in the Ohio House of
Representatives.
Running
without Democratic opposition in November, the
primary victory ensures Uecker will succeed Jean
Schmidt in the post. Schmidt ran for the 14th
district seat in the state senate.
Uecker is
"elated" over the victory, he said.
With all
precincts counted, excluding provisional votes,
Uecker received 5,321 votes, beating his closest
opponent, Don Donohoo, by more than 2,000 votes.
These vote totals are unofficial from the Clermont
County Board of Elections.
Donohoo,
who received 2,935 votes, is followed by Carl
Dorsch, 2,686 votes; Mark Daniels, 1,691 votes; and
Jeff Hardin, 544 votes.
"I
am surprised by such a wide victory," Uecker
said. "I was going to be happy with a small
margin."
Uecker,
currently a Miami Township trustee, will step down
from that position toward the end of the year, he
said.
"This
was the hardest race I've ever run," he said,
having run in four township trustee races, three of
which were contested.
Uecker
sited three reasons for the campaign's difficulty.
He said the number of opponents made running a very
"intense" project.
Uecker
said having "worthy, viable opponents"
made the race tough. He also said moving from
talking to voters in one township to four townships
increased the intensity of the campaign, as did
moving from local to state-wide issues.
Uecker
credits "grassroots campaigning" for his
victory. "I had a lot of friends that were
helping me."
The
Clermont County Republican Party endorsement helped
as well. "It was critical. I think it told a
lot of people that it does count to be active in the
local party."
Uecker
said his first task post-Election Day is to take
down the more than 600 to 700 signs he has in
supporters' yards.
"That's
the first campaign promise I have to keep," he
said.
bbrown@communitypress.com
248-7683
March 3, 2004.
