Dead Democrat beats Living Republican

I read on the web (an odd news site somewhere) that in one of the seats recently contested in the American elections, a woman who had died two months before the ballot - too near it to be removed from the proceedings - actually polled better than the Republican candidate in that electorate. If it is true, no doubt there will be jokes doing the rounds about it in due course. If it's not true, some people will no doubt think that it should be. (Does the name Marie Steichen ring a bell?)