3,500 votes

Schmidt, a former state representative, beat Hackett by 3,500 votes out of more than 112,000 cast in the conservative and heavily Republican district, where no Democrat in decades had won or even managed 40 percent of the vote.

Democrats are all excited because the election was that close in a very Republican district.

Look, a loss is a loss, and I take no "we put them on notice" message from it. In politics winning or losing is important, and Democrats have to stop trying to put a positive spin on losing.

What it tells me is that ~50,000 people in Ohio prefered a corrupt shrill Republican, over an Iraq War vet, Marine Corp Major, and lawyer.

Shame on those people..

From Atrios, polling by time. Interesting..

8:55

US HOUSE Ohio 2nd Dist
175 precincts of 753 reporting
PAUL HACKETT 13,512 51%
JEAN SCHMIDT 12,802 49%

9:11

PAUL HACKETT 23,957 51%
JEAN SCHMIDT 22,846 49%

9:15

Schmidt: 24,527 votes (49%)
Hackett: 25,920 votes (51%)

9:29

JEAN SCHMIDT 45,134 52%
PAUL HACKETT 42,342 48%

Remember, this is Ohio, k? Does anybody remember the margin in the '04 Presidential election?