The Associated Press called the race for Beagle at about 10:35 p.m.
Beagle’s campaign did not respond for comment late Tuesday. But earlier in the evening he said, “If we win, the next step is to just roll up our sleeves and go to work for Ohioans. They want more jobs. They want better jobs. They want their children educated. They want opportunities for their families and security.”
The district includes much of Dayton and west-central Montgomery County, all of Miami and Preble counties and the southern half of Darke County.
Beagle dominated Gillis outside of Montgomery County, winning more than three times as many votes as Gillis in Miami, Preble and Darke counties.
The campaign was notable for the gloves-off negative ads, including pro-Beagle ads that falsely claimed Gillis had voted to give herself a raise on Tipp City Council, and pro-Gillis ads portraying Beagle as anti-woman and an enemy of the middle class.
Beagle far outspent Gillis, receiving $714,340 in in-kind support — mostly for television, radio and print ads — from the Ohio Republican Party and the Republican Senate Campaign Committee. He also raised $121,885 during the reporting period prior to Tuesday’s election. The number is likely to go much higher once the final contributions are tallied on campaign finance reports due on Dec. 12.
Meanwhile, Gillis raised $86,036 and received $115,883 in in-kind support from Ohio Senate Democrats for political ads.
Republicans hold a 23-10 majority in the Senate, having controlled it since 1985.
With much of the state counted, it appeared that the split in the Senate would not change.
“I think the Democratic party probably realizes for years it has been asleep at the wheel as the Republican Party has done a good job getting control of state offices and the apportionment board,” said Wright State University political science instructor Paul Leonard, a Democrat and a former Dayton mayor, state legislator and lieutenant governor.
Mark Caleb Smith, director of the Cedarville University Center for Political Studies, said it will be difficult for Democrats to regain a majority in the legislature given the way the districts were drawn by the Republican majority. As the minority party, Democrats will have a difficult passing legislationthat could impact their ability to be re-elected, he said.
Reporter Chris Stewart contributed to this report.
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