Rep. Jim Renacci gives victory speech tells supporters "thank you"

WADSWORTH, Ohio - "Thank you. It's going to take everybody working together in Washington," Jim Renacci said during his victory speech after Tuesday's election.

Renacci gave the victory speech just after 12:30 a.m. Wednesday morning after receiving a concession call from challenger Betty Sutton.

Renacci then shook hands with each of the two dozen supporters still waiting so late.

When early results showed Renacci trailing Sutton 55 percent to 45 percent, shortly after polls closed, Renacci supporters gathered in Wadsworth said it was too early to read into those numbers.

They were right., two hours later the race was tied then Renacci took a slight lead, eventually winning.

As of 9:30 Tuesday night, Renacci has not stopped in at election night headquarters, but his wife was talking with supporters.

Just before 7 p.m. Tuesday, campaign workers finished putting up balloons and ribbons in the banquet room of  election night headquarters for Jim Renacci. 

The Galaxy is in Renacci's hometown of Wadsworth. People are starting to filter into the banquet room while watching early election results on TV.

A campaign spokesperson for Renacci said voter turnout appears to be heavy in the district with 80& turnout in places like Jackson Township to the east and Rocky River to the west.

Renacci voted around ten this morning in Wadsworth.

Renacci currently represents Ohio's 16th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatves. This year's election pits Renacci against Rep. Betty Sutton, who currently represents Ohio's 13th Congressional District.

That's because the districts were redrawn and two seats were eliminated. It leaves two incumbents battling for one seat in the 16th District. Renacci is a Republican; Sutton is a Democrat.

I have been assigned to cover one of the most closely watched congressional races in the country and will be at Renacci election night headquarters with colleagues Joe Mcgee and Dave Gapinski.

I will file reports on NewsChannel5 at six and 11 tonight while updating our award winning web staff newsnet5.com.

See you tonight for election coverage.

You can stay connected with on Twitter @paulkiska .

My fellow reporter Tracy Carloss previously wrote a web story about Renacci. This is part of that story.

Renacci grew up in a working class family in western Pennsylvania. His mother was a nurse; his father a railroad worker. Renacci was the first person in his family to attend college.

He graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor's degree in business administration. He became a certified public accountant and later moved to Wadsworth.

"My parents taught me, again blue collar union family, one thing in life is that we all have opportunity," said Renacci.

Renacci has served as a volunteer firefighter, was a Wadsworth city council member and was mayor of Wadsworth. Renacci was elected to Congress in November 2010. He said his number one priority is "jobs, jobs, jobs."

The one thing the two representatives agree on is that they are polar opposites.

"She (Sutton) believes in big government. I believe in less government. She believes in more taxes. I believe in less taxes," said Renacci.

Renacci and his wife have three grown children, and lives in Wadsworth.