Likely successor? 14th Congressional District race in Ohio is under way

CLEVELAND - He was all smiles as David Joyce (R) walked into the West Woods Nature Center in Novelty to cast his vote.  Dubbed a "heavy favorite" going into the 2012 14th Congressional District election, David Joyce had an air of confidence as he joined his wife and son at the polls.

Joyce is running against Democratic candidate Dale Virgil Blanchard, Libertarian candidate David Macko and Green Party candidate, Elaine Mastromatteo.  But with the 14th District being a "red" district since 2003, it has been predicted that Republican candidate David Joyce will be the likely successor to former Congressman Steven LaTourette (R), who this year, vacated his seat of 9 terms.

That is perhaps the most exciting part of this race. Not one of the candidates running for the 14th District, have served in Congress before.  The only candidate, not exactly new to this race, is Dale Virgil Blanchard (D), who in an earlier interview, told NewsChannel5 this will make his 7th time running in the 14th Congressional District Race.  

"If I thought we had sufficient representation, I wouldn't be running for Congress," said Blanchard during the interview.

Joyce, the Geauga County Prosecutor for over 20 years, received the GOP nomination not too long after LaTourette (R) announced his departure.  Joyce immediately began using his position as County Prosecutor to advocate for a future seat in the 14th District.

"When you're elected to office, " said Joyce, "you've got to do what is in the best interest of all the people all the time and I run a law firm that represents everybody in the county ... as well as representing the state of Ohio in all criminal matters.  We've done that for 24 years without a glitch."

Joyce has outlined his Republican party ideals when it comes to the issues of the National Deficit, Healthcare, Social Security and much more.  He also said he's not afraid to reach across party lines to get things done.  

Joyce's campaign already has LaMalfa, in Mentor, booked for a victory party but Blanchard says it's not over until the polls close.  If fact, Blanchard was even out campaigning all-day Tuesday.  NewsChannel5 caught up with him at an Eastlake polling location has he continued to shake voters' hands and hand-out campaign literature.

"Vote for me for Congress, I'm Dale Blanchard," he said, also with an air of confidence.

The areas voting for the 14th Congressional District include Ashtabula, Lake and Geauga counties as well as parts of Cuyahoga, Trumbull, Portage and Summit counties.