Cool Cleveland's post-election wrap
Barack Obama Wins Presidency

Even for the most seasoned political junkies, the two-year buildup to this historic election cycle was a lot to take in. Enthusiasm spilled over into fatigue for some by the end of last week; for others, weariness came on a whole lot sooner than that. By late last night, the buzzwords "exit polls," "congressional bloodbath," "bellwether," "swing states," "icing states" and "The Big Three" (Florida, Pennsylvania and Ohio) had been trotted out like show ponies on hourly parade. Political robocalls, deluged polls, long lines and malfunctioning voting machines had reared their ugly heads and snagged their usual headlines. Pundits furrowed their brows and tallied numbers repeatedly.

And that's saying nothing of the contentious elections for our own region -- the run by Deborah Sutherland against incumbent Peter Lawson Jones for Cuyahoga County Commissioner... Jim Trakas focusing on dethroning perennial prez nominee Dennis Kucinich from the House... payday lending restrictions, casino gambling and state constitutional augmentation... But when the returns came in, that two-year build up brought a much clearer view on issues nationwide and in our own backyard.

President of the United States Barack Obama. What more can be said? He won in a landslide, becoming the nation's first black president last night in an electoral college shift that smashed through a longstanding racial divide in the United States. It was hard not to be moved by his acceptance speech in Grant Park in Chicago -- watching the likes of Oprah Winfrey and Rev. Jesse Jackson with tears streaming down their faces. Obama's victory came with a run of wins in the tough battleground states of Ohio & Florida, while turning other states from red to blue: Pennsylvania, Iowa, New Mexico, Colorado and Nevada, even Virginia & Indiana. His margin in Cuyahoga (68%) may not have been surprising, but winning Ohio by 3-4% is quite a shift from the last election. Democrats also bolstered their majorities in the Senate and House, although it doesn't appear they will have a filibuster-proof 60 majority.

Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray "clobbered" Columbus attorney Mike Crites and will retain the seat he gained from embroiled former AG, Marc Dann

Cuyahoga County Prosecutor: Bill Mason dominated challenger Annette Butler
Cuyahoga County Recorder: Lillian Greene
Cuyahoga County Commissioner: Peter Lawson Jones easily defeated Republican challenger Deborah Sutherland to retain his County Commissioner seat.

U.S. House
District 11 Dennis Kucinich was re-elected with almost 57% of the vote, a decisive victory over the worthy Republican challenger Jim Trakas. It's safe to say we'll be hearing more from Trakas in the the future.
District 13 Betty Sutton
District 14 Steve LaTourette
District 17 Tim Ryan

Ballot Issues
Issue 1, Early Ballot issue filing: Passed.
Issue 2, Clean Ohio Fund: Passed.
Issue 3, Water Rights: Passed.
Issue 5, Payday Lender Restrictions: Passed. By a margin of 2 to 1, Ohioans sided with the legislature to cap payday loan interest rate at 28%.
Issue 6, Casino: Defeated. By a 60/40 margin, the only state in the region without a casino will remain that way until a fair and equitable offer is placed before the citizenry of Ohio.
Issue 127: Cuyahoga County Public Library Tax Levy: Passed. By an almost 60/40 margin, Cuyahogans passed the levy to support one of the very best library systems in the country.

See these links for additional coverage:
Ideastream
Cuyahoga County Board of Elections
WKYC-TV 3/ Meet.the.Bloggers

Compiled by the Cool Cleveland Editors lettersATcoolcleveland.com
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