No, Alyssa Milano, the Green Party did not spoil Democrat Danny O'Connor's victory

Jessie Balmert | Cincinnati Enquirer

Show Caption Hide Caption Voters weigh in on their picks for Ohio's 12th and whether President Trump played a role Voters weigh in on their picks for Ohio's 12th district. Did President Donald Trump play a role?

COLUMBUS - A hotly contested congressional race in central Ohio turned everyone into a political pundit, including actress Alyssa Milano.

The "Charmed" actress known for giving the #MeToo movement a bigger microphone blamed supporters of Green Party candidate Joe Manchik for Democrat Danny O'Connor's presumably narrow loss.

"Because of our unwillingness to pass policy that protects our election integrity, I immediately think the Green Party votes tonight are Russian meddling," Milano tweeted Tuesday. "Why else would anyone cast a protest vote in Ohio when there’s so much at stake?"

You know what sucks?



Because of our unwillingness to pass policy that protects our election integrity, I immediately think the Green Party votes tonight are Russian meddling.



Why else would anyone cast a protest vote in Ohio when there’s so much at stake?#OH12 — Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) August 8, 2018

Republican Troy Balderson has declared victory in the race to fill the remaining months of former U.S. Rep. Pat Tiberi's term. Tuesday's unofficial vote gave Balderson a 1,564-vote edge. O'Connor has not conceded the race yet. Instead, he's waiting for more than 8,000 uncounted ballots.

But Ohio's Green Party pointed out a flaw in Milano's logic: math.

There’s no such thing as “splitting the vote.” It’s been proven time and time again that Greens will not vote Democrat and will stay home if there is no Green candidate.



Votes separating O’Conner and Balderson: 1,754



Green Party voters: 1,127#OH12 https://t.co/CDWXXuCUBP — Ohio Green Party 🌻 (@OhioGreenParty) August 8, 2018

Manchik won just 1,127 votes in Ohio's 12th congressional district. That's less than the gap between Balderson and O'Connor.

Even if all Manchik supporters voted for O'Connor – which is no guarantee – the Democrat would still be short in the unofficial, final count.

Some of the uncounted ballots are likely for Manchik over Balderson or O'Connor. But if the margin holds, the Green Party candidate won't pick up more than a few dozen votes.