Amid the considerable success of the GOP on election night, there was one notable loss, and that was in the 9th District, where after a hard-fought battle, Rocky Raczkowski admitted that he probably would not be able to win his race because of the low turnout by Republican voters in his district, constant negative attacks bought at considerable cost by his opponent, and solid union and Democrat turnout in key parts of his district.
The race was close the whole night, but nearing 2:00 AM, Rocky spoke to a still large crowd (picture provided of crowd) of his supporters, telling them how proud he was of their hard work and dedication and reminding them to keep their heads high because they ran a positive campaign based on issues and values. Rocky pointed out that the razor-thin margin of this victory was a solid message to Peters that he needs to begin to listen to his constituents and perhaps hold more than one townhall over a two-year period, and that if he was going to pretend to be a moderate, tax-cutting, small-government Democrat, he should start to vote like one. He was upbeat and resolute, strong and solid even in a dark hour for him on an otherwise bright day for his party.
After his speech, I shook his hand and commented that he was an honorable man, even in defeat, to which he replied "I'm a soldier, remember." He is a soldier, a soldier of liberty and freedom, and the last time he was defeated (for Senate in 2002), he turned around and volunteered to serve in our nation's military, and came back to find a wife and an almost successful run for Congress. I know that he will also turn this defeat into a positive, because unlike his opponent, who ran a poisonous campaign filled with lies and slander and disingenuous claims, Rocky is proud of his effort and proud of doing things the right way, and will be rewarded for that, if not now then later. The picture of Rocky is of him during his 'concession' speech.
This campaign was personal to me, and I tried harder in this campaign than in any other in my life, and even though the GOP is celebrating tomorrow all around the nation, I am sad. Rocky was a good guy, and good guys deserve to win. But in his loss, he shows what it means to be a good guy, and that comforts me, and so like him, I will soldier on. Gary Peters may have won this round, but someday he will get his due for his actions over the last several months. It is saddening to me that the good citizens of Oakland County will be saddled with this guy for the next two years, but choices have consequences, and we will just have to live with ours until the time comes again to go to battle and fight in the name of freedom, liberty, life, and protection of property.
UPDATE: The numbers for the Michigan 9th District National Congressional Election are as follows:
291 of 291 Precincts Reporting
Rocky Raczkowski (REP) 47.20% 119,673
Gary Peters (DEM) 49.75% 126,155
Douglas Campbell (GRN) 0.98% 2,490
Adam Goodman (LIB) 1.03% 2,603
Bob Gray (NPA) 0.73% 1,871
Matthew Kuofie (NPA) 0.25% 648
WRITE-IN 0.05% 119
Total Votes Cast 253,559
Margin of victory by Gary Peters- 2.55%, or 6482. That gap really widened at the end. Oh, and voters of Goodman and Gray- your candidates endorsed Rocky, and your 4474 votes would have certainly helped close that margin, so in the future follow the election more closely.
UPDATE II: If anyone knows what is going on with this race now, please let me know. Something fishy went down last night- election returns came in considerably slower than any other race in Michigan (or the nation) and that is odd. We shouldn't know who won Alaska before we know who won Michigan's 9th- something wasn't right with the counting of the votes or the releasing of the votes in this race. Not that I think there was any sort of conspiracy, I'm just surprised that a guy who never went door-to-door, made phone calls, put up signs, visited the district, or met with anyone won this election on the strength of negative campaign ads alone. The numbers came in odd there too at the end.
UPDATE III: Here are some interesting numbers from the 9th District election... here are the percentages of various communities in the 9th District that voted for Rocky... can you spot the one city that he didn't win?
Bloomfield, 57.5%
Oakland, 69%
Orion, 59.5%
Waterford, 52.4%
Southfield, 51.6%
Birmingham, 54.6%
Bloomfield Hills, 63.9%
Lake Angelus, 82.5%
Orchard Lake, 65.5%
Rochester, 58.1%
Rochester Hills, 57.2%
Sylvan Lake, 53.7%
Troy, 54.5%
Pontiac, 12.4%
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