Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell is the winner from a wild and crazy Tuesday May 2 primary day.

   Unofficial results with 97.50 percent of the precincts reporting have Blackwell ahead for Republicans with 56.01 percent, while Jim Petro has 43.99 percent.

   On the Democrats side, Ted Strickland cruised with a huge lead over challenger Bryan Flannery (79.23%-20.7%).

   Polls released late last week showed Blackwell with a small to moderate lead over Petro, and Strickland with a sizable lead over Flannery, but tighter than polls from a month ago.

   Whether or not the debate over Strickland's lead is over is yet to be seen. Flannery was greatly concerned that some polling stations in the Cleveland area did not open on time Tuesday morning, with one polling place down until 1:30 p.m. because of a variety of reasons. He petitioned the courts to keep the polls in Cuyahoga County open until 9:30 p.m. The judge allowed just the one exceptionally late polling station to stay open, and a court order was issued prohibiting the Secretary of State's office, and board of elections around Ohio from releasing voting data until after that poll had closed.

   Thanks to the entire state having either optical-scanning voting machines or touchscreen pads, downloading and processing the voting data went much faster across most of the state than in past elections, where punch cards had to be tabulated by machine or hand.

   In many parts of the state, county boards of election had finished or nearly finished counting all the votes by 11 p.m. By midnight, nearly 70 percent of all election results were in to the Secretary of State's office.

   Blackwell's first comments about winning the GOP nomination came during a celebration Tuesday night. “You would know that the real Ken Blackwell wasn't standing up here if he didn't first say, 'All the glory is God's.'”

   Looking forward, he said, ``Tonight, we send a message to those who have left (Ohio) to protect their financial interests, that we are going to cut the tax burden. We are going to change the economic climate, and we are going to say to you, `Come back home.'''

   On the Democrat side of the race, Strickland said, “I am honored and humbled to accept the Democratic nomination to be Ohio’s next governor. I look forward to the weeks and months ahead as we will take to the people a bold and comprehensive vision to return Ohio to greatness.”

   He also looked forward in the campaign, alluding to Taft, while echoing Blackwell's gist of reaching out to business. “Right now in Ohio we have a leadership that seems to have given up on Ohio. Under their leadership, we’ve seen our great state buried under an avalanche of scandal, corruption, and, at times, criminal activity. ... Our mission to restore Ohio to its rightful place as one of the greatest states in the nation starts tonight. Our mission to restore the hope to our state that has for too long been mired in cynicism and despair starts tonight. Our mission to Turnaround Ohio starts tonight.”