Ohio GOP candidate accidentally concedes race: ‘Please disregard’

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The campaign for Derek Myers, a Republican candidate competing in Ohio’s 2nd Congressional District, suffered a series of embarrassing mistakes, including accidentally sending out a concession email hours before the close of Tuesday’s primary.

An email from Myers’ campaign office sent out to media outlets Tuesday, around 3 p.m. ET, lamented that "tonight did not go as we had hoped." 

Myers said "from a private watch party in Chillicothe" that he was looking forward to uniting behind the "Congressman-Elect" to get President Trump re-elected to the White House and evict President Biden. Polls in Ohio close at 7:30 p.m. ET.

"Listen, I’m in my thirties and as I’ve told everyone on this campaign trial, ‘if I don’t win this race, that’s okay!’ I’ve got thirty-or-fifty more years left – and that’s if I live a good live," he said. "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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Derek Myers is running for Ohio's 2nd Congressional District. His team accidentally sent out an email conceding the race hours before the polls even closed. (Facebook/Derek Myers)

Less than 10 minutes later, Myers’ campaign office sent out a follow-up email, admitting that the previous one sent had been "in error, due to a technical issue." 

"Please disregard the email. Thank you," the second email read. 

Roughly 30 minutes later, Myers sent out yet another email explaining in more detail what happened. 

The email was sent with the self-effacing headline: "So you wanna know what happened, eh?"

Myers explained that his campaign team had prepared two emails for the evening: "one declaring victory and one conceding the race." 

"The concession email was sent in error as it was being loaded into the media distribution portal, as a draft, in the event of a loss," Myers said, adding that someone accidentally hit the "send now" button instead of "draft."  

But that was not all – he went on to explain that the winning email was also drafted, a common practice for communications teams, so they can be prepared, "especially on such an impotent night."

Not surprisingly, his campaign clarified to Fox News Digital that he meant to say "important."

A Republican candidate competing in Ohio’s 2nd Congressional District suffered a series of unfortunate mistakes on Tuesday - sending an email conceding the race before it was even over, then accidentally swapping the word impotent for important in a follow-up email.  (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

"It's simply good strategy. Whatever the results return this evening, I’ll be thankful for this journey. And yes, the media will be getting a release sometime after the results roll in, declaring a victory or concession. Thank you," Myers concluded.

On Twitter, Myers later appeared to poke fun at the apparent typo. 

"If this whole politics thing doesn't work out, maybe I can be hired to be a spokesman like Bob Dole?" Myers tweeted, referring to the former U.S. Senator from Kansas and presidential candidate. The tweet included a 1998 commercial for Viagra, featuring Dole. 

Myers clarified that he had "no issue with that department… yet" and included the hashtags: #InMyThirties, #Impotent, #Spellcheck, and #AlwaysSpellCheck.

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Myers is competing in a crowded 11-person GOP primary for Ohio’s 2nd Congressional district following Rep. Brad Wenstrup’s decision to retire. 

The winner of Ohio's 2nd Congressional District GOP primary is heavily favored to win the general election in November.

Bradford Betz is a Fox News Digital breaking reporter covering crime, political issues, and much more. 

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