If you’ve ever sent an errant email, take solace. Republican Derek Myers, who is running in Ohio’s 2nd Congressional District, jumped the gun on his own concession announcement Tuesday, sending a prepared statement accepting defeat — hours before any election results were released.
An email with the subject line, “Derek Myers concedes Congressional race,” was sent out at 3:19 p.m. ET — and polls don’t close in Ohio until 7:30 p.m. ET.
His statement included in the email read, in part: “’Tonight did not go as we had hoped, but as we know, this race is decided in the primary. I want to give my congratulations to the Congressman-Elect.” The statement was attributed to Myers “from a private watch party in Chillicothe, surrounded by 100 of his close friends and supporters.”
It turns out Myers may not have been surrounded by 100 of his close friends and supporters — or at least if he was, it had nothing to do with receiving Tuesday night’s election results. A second email from Myers’ campaign was sent out less than 10 minutes later at 3:27 p.m. ET, with the subject line, “DISREGARD CONCESSION EMAIL.”
Myers is running in a crowded Republican primary to succeed retiring Republican Rep. Brad Wenstrup. The former local journalist and staunch Donald Trump supporter raised more than $20,000, with $18,000 coming from a personal loan. The top three fundraisers in the race — David Taylor, Larry Kidd and Tim O’Hara — raised about $1.8 million, $1.4 million and $1.35 million, respectively.
But the messages from Myers weren’t over yet. In a third email sent at 3:57 p.m., Myers looked to explain the mistake. He said the campaign prepared two emails, one in case he lost and a second if he wins.
Myers previously made news after he filed a police report and House ethics complaint last year alleging that then-Rep. George Santos made an unwanted sexual advance toward him during a private encounter in his office and he was later denied employment there. Santos denied the allegations and said Myers was denied a job after learning Myers was charged with wiretapping in 2022 after he published audio recorded by a source in a courtroom — the Scioto Valley Guardian, where Myers served as publisher and editor-in-chief, reported that those charges have since been dismissed.
In his first mistakenly sent concession email, Myers struck a positive note on his hypothetical loss, saying in part: “I’m looking forward to staying in the arena of Ohio politics and working with all Republicans to make Ohio great again!”
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