Candidates for governor in a roller coaster race to the finish

by Troy Kehoe (tkehoe@wsbt.com)

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Jim Schellinger speaks to his supporters in Indianapolis

Jim Schellinger speaks to his supporters in Indianapolis on Tuesday, May 6, 2008. (CBS photo)

By Beth Boehne

Story Created: May 6, 2008 at 11:02 PM EST

Story Updated: May 6, 2008 at 11:41 PM EST

FORT WAYNE — With 85 percent of the votes counted, everyone is still watching and waiting to see who will face Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels in the fall.

Jill Long Thompson from Argos is at 50 percent, and 50 percent has gone to South Bend native Jim Schellinger.

Lake, Porter, LaPorte and Tippecanoe counties still have not reported full returns. In some spots, Lake County hasn't reported any returns.

Schellinger outspent her by a 3 to 1 margin, and her campaign says even they were surprised by polls in recent weeks that showed her up by as much as 10 or 20 points.

Her supporters in Fort Wayne watched a roller coaster race Tuesday night. Long Thompson jumped out to an early 10-point lead shortly after the polls closed.

But later in the night, the race had pulled into a virtual dead heat, split 50-50.

In our area, Long Thompson took convincing wins in many counties, including her home of Marshall County, where she pulled out a 20-point win.

In fact, about the only county in our area that went convincingly to Schellinger was his native county — St. Joseph — where he won by 9 points.

And even though Schellinger has now taken a slight lead, Long Thompson's campaign has not thrown in the towel quite yet.

"We have to wait until all the counties are in so we can do a full assessment,” said Jeff Harris, communications director for Long Thompson’s campaign. “No one expected us to be in this position, so we're still very pleased.”

  • Watch Jim Schellinger address his supporters in Indianapolis

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