Sutton's Future Now Unclear after Election
After an intense and incredibly expensive campaign between both candidates, and a very close vote, Congressman Jim Rennaci (R) defeated Congresswoman Betty Sutton (D) for Ohio’s 16th district.Despite the loss, Sutton’s Campaign Manager BJ Neidhardt said, “I am very proud of the campaign we waged.”The Sutton Campaign not only faced the issue of redistricting, but also, according to Neidhardt, the lopsided nature of this very gerrymandered district unfortunately also contributed to a victory for Rennaci.The impact of redistricting has been seen in a few states, including Ohio. It is interesting to note that President Obama secured Ohio, but the Republicans managed to maintain three fourths of the state’s congressional seats.In an article written by The Plain Dealer it is stated that when the districts were realigned, the Republican controlled State Legislator packed Democratic voters into a small amount of districts.“This is a tossup state, the battleground of battlegrounds, except when you stack the deck,” said Steve Fought, who is a spokesman for the Sutton Campaign.On the contrary, the Republicans claim that this happened in other blue states like Pennsylvania. Mark Critz, an incumbent Democratic Representative of Pennsylvania’s 12th district, lost to Keith Rothfus by more than 10,000 votes. In fact Republicans hold 12 out of the 18 congressional seats in Pennsylvania.Besides redistricting, “Unprecedented levels of outside spending determined the outcome,” added Neidhardt.To that end, the Akron Beacon Journal reported that each campaign spent a little less than $4 million dollars. An enormous amount of spending by outside groups had a major impact on races at all levels. In this particular race between Congressman Rennaci and Congresswoman Sutton, outside groups spent roughly $10 million dollars. About the same amount of money was spent against each candidate.In reflecting on what she has done this far, Congresswoman Sutton is proud of her service fighting for Northeast Ohio’s middle class families, said Neidhardt.When it comes to the Congresswoman’s future, “she is looking forward to continuing that service,” said Neidhardt.Whether Congresswoman Sutton plans on running again is still not known as she is currently weighing a variety of options, concluded Neidhart.