ELECTION UPDATE: Newcomer Johnson to oust U.S. Rep. Wilson in 6th District

It appears Republican Bill Johnson, a political newcomer, is going to defeat two-term U.S. Rep. Charlie Wilson, a Democrat, in the 6th Congressional District race.

With about more than half of the votes counted in the 12-county district, Johnson holds a lead of nearly 8 percentage points over Wilson.

With all but two precincts in Columbiana County, the largest county in the district in terms of population, counted Johnson has 53.5 percent of the vote compared to less than 40 percent for Wilson.

Also in Belmont County, where Wilson lives, he trails Johnson by more than 5 percentage points with 60 of 70 precincts reporting.

Those two counties as well as Jefferson and Mahoning are seen as the key counties in the 6th District.

Johnson holds a lead of nearly 3 percentage points over Wilson in Jefferson with about 67 percent of the county vote reported. Wilson holds a lead of about 4.5 percent in Mahoning, the district’s most Democratic county, with about 35 percent of the county vote reported.

Wilson is seeking his third term in the U.S. House. He also served four terms in the Ohio House and was elected to one term in the state Senate before winning the congressional race in the 2006 election. Johnson, running for political office for the first time, narrowly won the Republican primary for this seat by less than 1,700 votes in May.