Steve Chabot

Congressman-elect Steve Driehaus (D-Price Hill) has hired a fellow Cincinnatian as his chief of staff as he heads to Washington after unseating U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Westwood) in Ohio's 1st Congressional District on Election Day.

Driehaus hired Delhi-native Greg Mecher for the position. Mecher is a graduate of Elder High School and has worked in Washington since an internship with former U.S. Rep. Ken Lucas (D-Ky.) in 1999. Mecher has also worked with the Democratic National Committee in 2004 and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in 2006.

Mecher currently holds the title of political director for U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.). He is a graduate of Northern Kentucky University.

The campaign of state Rep. Steve Dreihaus (D-Price Hill) is ecstatic about his win Tuesday night unseating U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Westwood).

Congressman-elect Driehaus won the race for Ohio's 1st Congressional District 51.49 percent to Chabot's 48.49 percent, and received 143,743 votes compared to 135,376 for Chabot.

"Unbelievable would be a stretch because I think we all believed it was going to happen," said Driehaus spokesperson Joe Wessels. "But somebody's going to win and somebody's going to lose and it felt like a close race. It was a close race."

State Rep. Steve Driehaus (D-Price Hill) announced that he will hold a brief news conference at noon on Wednesday to discuss his priorities for serving Ohio's 1st Congressional District in the next Congress.

Driehaus has been projected to win his race against U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Westwood) by the Cincinnati Enquirer, CNN and MSNBC.

CNN has called the race in Ohio's 1st Congressional District in favor of state Rep. Steve Driehaus (D-Price Hill) unseating U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Westwood).

The Ohio Secretary of State Web site shows Driehaus coming in at 51.64 percent compared to 48.34 percent for Chabot, 0.01 percent for write-in candidate Eric Wilson and the same for write-in candidate Rich Stevenson.

CNN showed 99 percent of precincts reporting.

The Secretary of State had Driehaus getting 142,301 votes to 133,197 for Chabot, 40 for Wilson and 27 for Stevenson.

The candidates vying for Ohio's Congressional seats have released their public schedules for Election Day and night, and most candidates will be holed up for watch parties in various hotels, restaurants and ballrooms throughout the state.

OH-1

In Ohio's 1st Congressional District, state Rep. Steve Driehaus (D-Price Hill) is challenging U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Westwood).

Chabot planned to cast his ballot Tuesday morning at the Westwood Library. On election night he will be hosting a party at the downtown Hyatt.

Driehaus will be crisscrossing the district. His campaign planned on greeting voters as the polls open at Bond Hill Community, Zion Baptist Fellowship Hall and St. Teresa of Avila Church, before lunching at Price Hill Chili. Driehaus planned to continue visiting polling locations before joining supporters later in the evening at Sully's Restaurant Saloon.

CINCINNATI -- State Rep. Steve Driehaus (D-Price Hill) is keeping a busy schedule in the final weekend of his campaign for Ohio's 1st Congressional District. He's out on the trail doing retail politics, making contact with as many people as possible before voters head to the polls on Tuesday.

Driehaus said that many people he talks to are happy to tell him they've already voted for him.

"It's amazing to me the number of people who've already voted," Driehaus said. "It's tremendous, and we're seeing that all over the place."

Driehaus said the economy is still the dominant issue on voters mind and said change is what voters are looking for this election season.

CINCINNATI - U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Westwood) in confident heading into the final days of his re-election campaign for Ohio's 1st Congressional District. His campaign office was bustling with volunteers when PolitickerOH.com caught up with the Congressman.

"I think we're in very good shape," Chabot said, talking up his volunteer force handing out literature, making phone calls and preparing mail.

Chabot said that as he hits the trail in the final push voters are still concerned about the direction of the economy.

"People are worried that we're heading into a recession," Chabot said. "And they want us to take action that avoids that, if at all possible. Or make it a less deep recession than we might otherwise have."

CINCINNATI - U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Westwood) will be campaigning with "Joe the Plumber" over the last weekend of the campaign for Ohio's 1st Congressional District.

Joe Wurzelbacher, made famous by Republican presidential nominee John McCain as "Joe the Plumber," will be on the West side of Cincinnati Saturday for a series of campaign events with Chabot. 

Chabot and Wurzelbacher will kick off appearances with a rally for volunteers at Chabot's campaign headquarters. The central event will be a get out the vote rally at Price Hill Chili.

Finally, Chabot and Wurzelbacher will be in front of the Pit before Elder takes on Centerville Saturday night.

State Rep. Steve Driehaus (D-Price Hill) held a conference call with U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Lorain) Wednesday afternoon to address what the Driehaus camp called the latest unfounded smear from the campaign of U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Westwood).

In the call, Driehaus reiterated his "commitment to protecting Social Security and Medicare." The Driehaus call was to hit back on a ad from the Chabot camp accusing Driehaus of wanting to cut Medicare by $193 million.

The Driehaus camp previously called Chabot "down and desperate" for releasing the ad.