A Republican running for Congress in Ohio mistakenly announced that he had conceded defeat before, less than 10 minutes later, the campaign said to “disregard the email.”
“Tonight did not go as we had hoped, but as we know, this race is decided in the primary. I want to give my congratulations to the Congressman-Elect,” GOP hopeful Derek Myers’s campaign sent out via email just over 4 hours before the polls were set to close in the Buckeye state.
The email said Myers is looking forward to “uniting behind [the congressman-elect] and working with him to get President Trump re-elected to the White House and evicting Joe Biden,” as well as “staying in the arena of Ohio politics and working with all Republicans to make Ohio great again!”
The announcement attributed the quotes to Myers “from a private watch party in Chillicothe, surrounded by 100 of his close friends and supporters.”
Myers’s campaign explained to the Washington Examiner what happened to result in the false alarm concession.
“Two emails were prepared for this evening: one declaring a victory and one conceding the race. The concession email was sent in error as it was being loaded into the media distribution portal, as a draft, in the event of a loss,” the campaign said.
“Accidentally, the ‘send now’ button we clicked instead of ‘draft.’ The winning email was also drafted, but was not sent in error, thankfully,” they said. “Anyone who works in communications knows it’s not uncommon to have speeches and releases prepared in the event of each outcome… It’s simply good strategy.”
The campaign continued, “Whatever the results return this evening, I’ll be thankful for this journey. And yes, the media will be getting a release sometime after the results roll in, declaring a victory or concession. Thank you.”
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Myers has positioned himself as the “America First” candidate in an 11-person race for the GOP nomination for Ohio’s 2nd Congressional District, which heavily leans Republican with a rating of R+25 according to the Cook Political Report.
Ohio’s 2nd District has been represented by Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-OH) since 2013; however, he is not running for reelection.
