Polls are now closed in OH-05. Results will be updated HERE.

Also we may get live reports from HQ where they're watching local TV coverage.

Swing State Project has a handy chart of baseline numbers for how each county performed in 2006 when Robin Weirauch won 43% of the vote.

Update [2007-12-11 19:49:47 by Todd Beeton]:OK, they're taking their sweet time. Anyone care to make some predictions?

<Update [2007-12-11 22:6:52 by Todd Beeton]: Results are trickling, and I do mean trickling in.

With 79.13% precincts reporting:

Latta (R): 56.05%
Weirauch (D): 43.77 %

And by the way, check out this sweet interactive election returns map.

Update [2007-12-11 22:2:52 by Todd Beeton]:The AP has officially called it for Latta. Good effort everyone and thanks to all the volunteers on the ground and of course, Robin. If there's a takeaway, it's that it's going to take outspending us 2 to 1 to keep Democratic challengers to 2006 levels and we all know they just don't have that kind of money. We made them blow a huge wad of cash this time around.

From lpackard over at dailyKos:

Polls are open here until 7:30pm. The verdict so far? Because of the weather we believe turnout is low. But nobody knows if that is good or bad. It's doubly important that if you know anybody living in the district, you call them now and ask them to go vote for Robin. If you're on Facebook, you can use this event to invite your friends and family to go vote. But a personal phone call is probably best.

The weather is pretty uniformly bad. It's been raining or misting or about to rain all day. At least it isn't icy out. Supposed to be in the upper 30s for the rest of the day.

From Ohio Daily Blog:

This afternoon Robin Weirauch spoke to an ebullient crowd of AFL/CIO members phonebanking at IBEW Local 8 in Rossford, Ohio. Weirauch was introduced as "the next Congressional representative from the 5th District" to foot-stomping and boisterous cheering. "The Republican Party has spent 16% of their available resources into this race," the introducer continued. "This shows that we have a good candidate. This was supposed to be a walkaway for any Republican, just like was for the last 70 years. But we've got the candidate, we've got the momentum, and we're going to win."

And some similar sentiments from Buckeye State Blog:

The energy in the union hall was electric. These folks were excited about the prospect of electing a member of Congress who actually represents them. Robin knows how to connect with the predominantly middle class, blue collar people who make up the 5th district. Her secret is pretty simple. She not only knows what is happening economically, socially, and politically in NW Ohio, but she cares about the people who live here and about their futures. Her message is sincere.

We are down to the final few hours. Every call made, every door knocked, every voter contacted could be the one thing that pushes Weirauch over the top. If you have any friends or family who votes in OH-5, get on your phone right now and remind them that today is the day to make history in Ohio.

Great stuff. Still have just over 2 hours before polls close, so help the GOTV effort if you can.

Update [2007-12-11 17:49:1 by Todd Beeton]:Heh. Poor Bob Latta:

Reports are coming in from Weirauch volunteers that there is not a ‘lotta’ love for Bob Latta in Van Wert, Ohio. Bob Latta was scheduled to meet voters in the predominately red city of Van Wert at 2pm today. According to two canvassers on location, Latta pulled up to find a TV camera but no Latta supporters in sight.

Latta sat in his car for 15 minutes with his head in his hands, and then a Latta staffer got out, talked to the cameraman, and told him to pack up. The staffer then got in the car and they drove off. Latta went all the way to Van Wert, which is in the far western part of the district, and didn’t even get out of the car.

I think it is fair to say that he is not having a very good day.

One day out, a view from the ground - Todd

(disclosure: I am volunteering out here for Robin Weirauch for Congress)

In case you hadn't heard, we had an ice storm here in OH-05 (it was too icy to play hockey in Toledo). However, that sure wasn't going to stop the Weirauch campaign volunteers. I took some time out from keeping the printers and our network going to go out for a bit in that mess along with an army of very dedicated (and thoroughly soaked) volunteers. This is how icy it was. I actually broke my scraper trying to clear the windshield.

(photos after the flip)

Update [2007-12-10 15:0:46 by Todd Beeton]:Also, dailykos has a piece on just how discouraged the GOP is about this race; also, check out local blogs Buckeye State Blog and Ohio Daily Blog who brings us the good news that absentee ballot returns are "closer than expected" and this tidbit:

I just checked ActBlue and Robin has received $90,066 from 1208 contributors. Wow. Over at the rightwing equivalent, SlateCard.com, Bob Latta has received $1,808 from 20 contributors. Poor Bob! Lots of money from fat cats, but not much grass roots love.

From the diaries - Todd

Rep. Tim Ryan was in Bowling Green helping GOTV for Robin Weirauch for Congress on Friday and Saturday, and here is some video I took from an event with the Bowling Green State University College Dems (Rep. Ryan is a BGSU alum). If you can help us by doing some virtual phonebanking, we'd really appreciate it - and so would Rep. Ryan! Email phonebank4robin@gmail.com if you can phonebank.

We can win this special election - but we need your help!

Thanks, steve (currently volunteering in OH-5)

OK, I'm not sure what part of this new NRCC web ad attacking Robin Weirauch is my favorite: the dailyKos screencap, the morphing of Robin's face into Hillary Clinton's or the black and white (= scaaaary!) footage of Weirauch appearing with Governor Ted Strickland, you know, the guy who won last year with 60% of the vote, including a victory in the 5th. It's all pretty priceless, a perfect example of the desperation of the NRCC -- throwing every conservative bogeyman/woman at the wall to see what sticks.

Watch it:

What's most amusing is that they think this demonization actually works anymore. Take the recent post over at RedState by Bob Latta, the Republican running against Robin Weirauch in Tuesday's special election. It's a pretty sad post, basically a sort of form fundraising ask except in blog post format, with the scaaary subtitle:

Let's keep this district Republican and one less vote for Nancy Pelosi's San Francisco agenda.

With a lede like that, they had to think they had a winner. But actually the post garnered only 3 comments, one of which was a takedown of the idea that these tactics actually work.

I don't understand what all this fuss about San Francisco is about. Nancy Pelosi may be a liberal and she may represent San Francisco, but associating an entire political movement with one city is, well, disingenuous. New York liberal makes sense, or Cambridge liberal, or South Florida liberal, or wherever it is that liberals tend to live, but I really don't get the point of making everything about San Francisco. Maybe we should also talk about Mississippi conservatives? I don't think any of us would find that this makes sense at all. I'm all for insulting Democrats, but perhaps real insults might work better than associating them with an arbitrary city.

In fact, all three comments were critical of Latta. The RedStaters are reallly starting to resent the expectation that they "carry water" for Republicans who don't represent their values. To them, Latta as a faux conservative.

Unfortunately for the NRCC, this Republican rebellion against Latta appears not to be confined to the blogs. BuckeyeStateBlog has been reporting on rumors (unsubstantiated I should note) of in-district voter suppression tactics being perpetrated by Latta's bitter primary challenger, Steve Buehrer.

I've been hearing more and more blow back over the past day about GOPers working against Bob Latta's in his district. The first news that broke yesterday concerned questions that some of Steve Buehrer's supporters might be urging voters to stay home home on election day. Attached to that sentiment with a big asterisk was the suggestion that Buehrer might even have a hand in that suppression effort himself, either out of spite towards Latta or an interest in running for the district again.

Whether true or not, what's clear is that Republicans appear seriously disenchanted, whereas Democrats are quite the opposite. Hell, so far three of our presidential candidates (Obama, Edwards and Dodd) have sent out fundraising asks on Robin Weirauch's behalf. This is our first serious opportunity to expand on last year's gains and we can hardly wait for next year when by all accounts we're going to be able to finish what we started in 06. A Weirauch victory, or even a close race in the 5th on Tuesday, will serve notice to Republicans all over the country running in 08: no district is safe.

To help send that message, go donate to Weirauch over at ActBlue. Laura Packard, who's working on the ground in Weirauch's campaign office, reports that donations are still being accepted and are greatly appreciated.

Update [2007-12-7 19:43:32 by Todd Beeton]: As BuckeyeStateBlog tells us in Breaking Blue, The Politico is reporting that not even John Boehner, who's from Ohio, is campaigning for Latta. Wow.

With six days to the special election in Ohio's 5th district, there's word now of internal polls showing this special election between Democrat Robin Weirauch and Republican Bob Latta is down to a 3-point race. From Roll Call via Stoller:

"I've heard that there are internal polls that show a 3-point race," said Ohio Democratic consultant Dale Butland. "It would be shocking. If that district goes Democratic, then there would literally be no district in this state that would be safe for Republicans."

This may have been what Gov. Strickland was talking about when he said at an appearance with Robin Weirauch on Saturday:

Robin's pollster is the pollster that I have used since 1992. She's the best there is, I trust her explicitly. She does not sugarcoat the results and her results say that this race is absolutely winnable.

If it weren't, would the two party committees be dropping this kind of cash in the district?

NRCC: $380,547.60
DCCC: $172,718.60

Especially when the NRCC has. no. money. And you won't be surprised to learn the ads are full of lies, throwing all the classic conservative bogeymen at her: "amnesty," "higher taxes" and she's a "liberal in the extreme!" Oooooh. The ads are up at The Politico.

As for the DCCC's ads, I posted one in my Special Election Round-up on Monday. Today, there's a new web ad out that goes after Latta's ties to oil companies (h/t The Stakeholder):

But even better than that is this video of Robin being Robin at an early (and chilly) morning meet and greet of voters (h/t Buckeye State Blog):

Since the election is just around the corner, the time to give money to the campaign is running out so give what you can over at ActBlue today. You can also do some GOTV for Robin either in district or virtually, see this dailykos diary for details.

A win next Tuesday in this ruby red district would be huge, not only because it would add one more (and better) Democrat to our House majority and signal a trouncing to come in 2008, but it would also have another fringe benefit, as RandomNonviolence wrote in the comments on Monday:

If Robin Weirauch can win in this conservative, rural district, it means Democrats can win just about anywhere. A win would probably encourage a lot of Republicans to retire, including perhaps, Ohio Senator George Voinovich in 2010.

Check out the new web ad that The Stakeholder put together for the OH-5 Special Election - turns out that Bob Latta's making some serious bank on higher gas prices...

Read the rest of Brandon's post here.

Disclosure: I am currently volunteering with the Weirauch campaign... and we can use your help!

Contact Jason at phonebank4robin@gmail.com to sign up for Robin's Virtual Phonebank.

For canvassing and phonebanking in Ohio, email WeirauchGOTV@ohiodems.org.

Donate at the Blue Majority page.

Good to see the DCCC isn't waiting until next year to start going on offense in order to expand our majorities. Remarkably, in the OH-05 open seat race set for December 11, a district that Bush won with 61% in 2004, Democrats smell blood.

Swing State Project reports that the DCCC has purchased a $148,000 ad buy to support Democrat Robin Weirauch who won 43% last year in this R+10 district. This comes on the heels of Weirauch's reportedly raising $138,000 so far for this special election alone, including

$5,000 from Emily's List and $2,000 each from committees affiliated with Rep. Rahm Emmanual (D-IL), Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Toledo), Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Niles), and Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-Cleveland). She also recived funds from various Congressional leadership PACS, including $5,000 from Rep. Kaptur's PAC. Weirauch also got over $34,000 from union PACs.

While a poll that Weirauch's Republican opponent, Bob Latta, commissioned 3 weeks ago showed Latta ahead 50%-37%, the same poll showed a generic R beating a generic D by just 8%, indicating that voters are perhaps even more willing to vote Democratic this year than they were last when Weirauch lost by 14%. And in a glimpse into what may be driving the surge in institutional support for Weirauch in the closing days of the race, Governor Ted Strickland let us in on a little secret about Weirauch's internal polling at an appearance with her on Saturday (h/t Ohio Daily Blog):

Robin's pollster is the pollster that I have used since 1992. She's the best there is, I trust her explicitly. She does not sugarcoat the results and her results say that this race is absolutely winnable.

In this district that both Strickland and Sherrod Brown carried last year, Weirauch is sounding populist themes, promoting fair trade over trade deals that have sent jobs out of the district, demanding up front in her speech on Saturday that we "bring our troops home safe, honorably and soon" and has been vocal in her support of the Employee Free Choice Act. In other words, it's clear that on Dec. 11, even in this red district, we have the chance to add not only one more Democrat, but a better one to congress.

Help send Washington a new "Congresswoman by Christmas" by showing Weirauch some love over at ActBlue.