Mike Baker narrowly wins District 52 Democratic primary

In one of the most closely contested races of the night, Mike Baker narrowly defeated Graig Bansek in the Democratic primary race and will move on to the general election for state representative for Ohio's 52nd District. Baker edged the victory with 4,767 votes to Bansek's 4,620, or 50.78 percent to 49.22 percent, according to unofficial results from the Lorain County Board of Elections. That is outside the margin of an automatic recount, which is one-half of 1 percent, unless outstanding provisional ballots swing Bansek's way. In the general election in November, Baker will face state Sen. Nathan Manning, R-North Ridgeville. Manning is running to replace Rep. Gayle Manning, R-Avon, his mother, who currently holds the District 52 seat. Manning ran unopposed Tuesday. Bansek led throughout the night as results rolled in, but he seldom led by more than a few hundred votes and Baker took the lead as the results of the last few precincts were tallied. Baker attributed his victory to the work that he put in meeting with voters face-to-face, though he credited Bansek with working just as hard. "I mean, obviously it was a nail-biter," Baker said. "I mean, we knew it was going to be close across the board, because he definitely put in the work, but I was out. I mean, it was over 5,000 doors knocked, 228 events and 435 days." Although Bansek noted that technically provisional votes could turn the race into a recount, he was sad to come up short but thrilled both by his performance and the strength of the candidate that the Democratic party would have in Baker. "First I want to say that Mike ran a hell of a race. I mean, he worked hard and he represented our party well," Bansek said. "The number of votes both he and I got were tremendous, the number of people we brought out. He has got more votes right now, waiting for the provisional ballots, but I have got to give him credit. … I will tell you this, the other party better be aware, because we got that many people coming out in a very low turnout election, with that many votes, they had better start working." Bansek said that he was proud of the work that he and his team put in, and said the amount of support he received made him feel like Tuesday should not be his last election. "I think our campaign ran strong enough that I believe there is something in the future," he said. "What that is, only God knows, but I am happy. You don't get a ribbon for finishing second, but I am also not going to get sidetracked by losing to a good guy who ran a hell of a race." Baker said that he hoped to continue building on the momentum of the win and the election's turnout as he went into the general election in November. "I am going to take a brief break, just to try and recharge and everything, but then we are going to be hitting it hard," Baker said. "We have got to go out there, take care of Nathan Manning and start actually fighting for people here locally… I appreciate every single person that voted for me, and even those who didn't vote for me, because I am here for everybody." Ohio House District 52 represents Elyria, Avon, North Ridgeville, Amherst Township and Elyria Township. Contact Owen MacMillan at (440) 329-7123 or omacmillan@chroniclet.com.