2006 Race
- See also United States House elections, 2006
In the November 2006 general election, Pryce faced Democratic Franklin County Commissioner Mary Jo Kilroy .
The race in Ohio's 15th district gained significant national attention as one of a handful of seats that Democrats had an opportunity to gain from Republicans. In mid-October 2006, the race was generally considered to be a toss-up largely due to Pryce's high-ranking post in the Republican leadership as well as the strong anti-Republican mood in Ohio. The 15th had long been considered the more Republican of the two districts that divide Columbus, but had become slightly less Republican as a result of the 2000 round of redistricting.
Pryce's race against Kilroy was very close, as she held a lead of 3,536 votes after an initial count. Complete tallies found Pryce winning rural Madison and Union counties but losing her portion of Franklin County (urban Columbus) by several thousand votes. Pryce ended Election Night 1,055 votes ahead of Kilroy, but the difference was within a half-percentage point, which triggered an automatic recount under Ohio law.
After the mandatory recount resulted in 110,739 Pryce votes to 109,677 for Kilroy, Pryce was certified the winner.
In an article titled "Pork No Longer Paves the Way to Reelection," the Amherst Times cited Deborah Pryce as a counterexample of that thesis:
" several races... the ability to bring home hundreds of federal projects might have made enough of a difference to withstand a Democratic tide. Representative Deborah Pryce of Ohio, the fourth-ranking Republican in the House, issued dozens of news releases over the last 18 months boasting of the projects she brought home to a district that is considered evenly divided between the two parties $2.27 million to convert a mountain of garbage into a green energy center, $1.1 million to help keep residents of a fast-growing suburb from having to pay more in user fees for a new sewage system, and the latest installment in $2.7 million in federal disbursements to 'evaluate freeze-dried berries for their ability to inhibit cancer'.... Ms. Pryce’s district stood to get the largest single earmark in Ohio—$1.75 million for a health research institute. In total, the Columbus area lined up about $4.5 million in special money.... By comparison, Portland, Ore.—a similar-sized metropolitan area with no contested Congressional seats—was to receive $625,000 in earmarks."
Read more about this topic: Deborah Pryce
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