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Ohio county exemplifies closely divided electorate No county in Ohio was as evenly split in the 2008 election as Jefferson County. This year’s election looks to follow a similar path.
Famed entertainer Dean Martin was from Steubenville, Ohio, and a large mural painted on a grocery store honors him and his career. President Obama won Jefferson County by 76 votes out of 36,000 cast in the 2008 election. It may be just as close this election.
Michael S. Williamson
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The Washington Post
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The Steubenville High School football field is nestled in a residential area above the main downtown section of the city. Majorette Angie Smith warms up for the halftime show Sept. 20. Jobs have been scarce in the area, and many of the young people leave after high school.
Michael S. Williamson
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The Washington Post
Mingo Junction, Ohio, is almost a ghost town as a majority of its businesses have closed. The steel mill that's 100 yards from Commercial Street, seen here, is closed and has been sold to a scrap company. The city announced that most of the street lights may have to be turned off because of a lack of funds.
Michael S. Williamson
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The Washington Post
Steve Jones, 65, has worked in the steel mills for 45 years. "I'm not in a hurry to retire, because I don't mind working," Jones says. He came downtown to double-check his voter registration forms. He's been concerned about the recent voter ID laws that have passed because he thinks they are aimed at keeping minorities from voting.
Michael S. Williamson
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The Washington Post
Cecilia Pesta, 88, clips price tags for merchandise at Pesta's Country Store, which she owns, in Mingo Junction. The store is one of the few businesses still operating in the decimated steel town. "It was a beautiful town," she says. "We had a lot of little stores." The parents of her husband built and opened the store in 1925.
Michael S. Williamson
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The Washington Post
David Cloud is an unemployed roofer in Steubenville. He used to make union wages, but because there's a glut of available workers, he does odd jobs for $10 to $12 per hour. He's going to vote for President Obama because Mitt Romney "only cares about the rich people," he says.
Michael S. Williamson
/
The Washington Post
Carol Petrossi sits on the porch of the Victorian home she and her husband, Chris, are restoring. She's with her dog Lola, a rescue dog. (Baby is in the doorway.) She's weighing all of the political issues in her head but hasn't made up her mind about whom she will vote for in the presidential election. She said that some of her friends are inclined to vote for Obama to give him a chance to fix the problems he inherited.
Michael S. Williamson
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The Washington Post
Ray Morrison worked in the steel mills for 35 years and then became a truck driver. He is a dedicated fan of the Fox News channel. "If you want to know the true story about Obama, you have to watch Fox a little bit," he says. "I hate him."
Michael S. Williamson
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The Washington Post
Patrick McLaughlin volunteers around town cleaning up blight. He mows vacant lots and boards up houses. He laments that the city doesn't have the budget to do it. He's not sure how he's going to vote but is not happy with the president because "he tends to give money to people who don't want to work."
Michael S. Williamson
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The Washington Post
Mingo Junction is almost a ghost town as a majority of its businesses have closed. The steel mill that's at the bottom of Logan Avenue is closed and has been sold to a scrap company.
Michael S. Williamson
/
The Washington Post
The shuttered steel mill can be seen in the reflection of a window of a former variety store that closed in Mingo Junction. The building has been condemned by the city. Much of downtown is boarded up and condemned. The senior center has run out of money and may soon close.
Michael S. Williamson
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The Washington Post
Hank Segle receives disability checks and wishes that he could work. The former broadcast engineer volunteers at the local Democratic headquarters. Segle, 59, is one of Mitt Romney's "47 percent." He lives off a $982 monthly Social Security disability check and intends to vote in November for President Obama. "I can't take this being-disabled stuff," he says. "I can only watch so many episodes of 'NCIS' and 'House.' It's driving me batty." As for that monthly government check: "How can I be a 'taker' when I paid into Social Security all those years? That's my money."
Michael S. Williamson
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The Washington Post
Herb Barcus shows off his 30-years-of-service watch that he got from the Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Corp. He eventually worked 46 years for the company. As he looked down the empty streets of Mingo Junction, he lamented, "It's so sad to see nobody on the streets." Barcus said he was a Democrat all his life, "but not this time." He said he will vote for Mitt Romney this election.
Michael S. Williamson
/
The Washington Post
Ray Morrison (silhouetted in the reflection) comes through the back door of his home, where his dog Rufus and grandson Luke, 3, wait for him. Morrison worked in the steel mills for 35 years and then became a truck driver. He's voted Republican all of his life and said he'd vote for Idi Amin or Saddam Hussein before he'd vote for Obama.
Michael S. Williamson
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The Washington Post
The faces of Steubenville can be seen in the crowd at the Big Red stadium where the Steubenville High School football team was playing Sept. 20. A lot of voters are lukewarm about the guy they support, but they are white-hot about the guy they loathe.
Michael S. Williamson
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The Washington Post
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Rachel Zubay, 32, works at a restaurant in Stratton, Ohio. She has two kids, is in the middle of a divorce, has no medical insurance and is paying $50 a month on a $15,000 surgical bill after she injured her ankle and foot in a nasty fall. She figures she'll have it paid off in five or 10 years. She'll likely vote for Romney. What about the president's health-care plan, which is supposed to help people afford medical insurance? "Obviously it hasn't helped me at all," Zubay says. "I'd be better off moving to Canada."
Michael S. Williamson
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The Washington Post
Cheri Devore stopped in the Parkview bar and restuarant to visit friends after work in Mingo Junction. She thinks it's shame that the town is almost a ghost town. She noted that the proximity to the river should help the city rebound as a draw for potential businesses.
Michael S. Williamson
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The Washington Post
A sculpture to honor steel workers stands off of Route 7 in Steubenville. The main mill in town has been shut down and sold for scrap. Grim and gritty as this corner of the world may be, people still have their hopes. They see fortune on the horizon, or at least under the ground, in the natural gas-containing shale.
Michael S. Williamson
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The Washington Post
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Section:/politics/decision2012
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