The races for Morrow County commissioner, prosecutor, and recorder were closely watched on March 19 since there were no Democrat candidates seeking election, meaning the winners in the Republican primary will run unopposed in the November general election.
County Commissioner Tim Siegfried held on to his seat with a total of 2,968 votes over his opponent Chris Sherbourne’s 1,931 votes.
The prosecutor’s race was closer with Andrew Wick winning with 2,867 votes over incumbent Thomas Smith’s 2,648 votes.
The Recorder’s Office had the most crowded field. Brandon Strain won the recorder’s seat with 1,210 votes, just 30 more than Jennifer Kimmey’s 1,180 votes. Dawn Vanderkooi received 1,107 votes, Cathie Robinson received 963 votes and Jerry Newell 746 votes.
Morrow County voters turned down all the local renewal levies except for Cardington’s renewal levy for current expenses, which tied with 167 for the levy and 167 against. Morrow County Board of Election Director Penny Porter said there are still 42 provisional ballots and 15 mail-in votes to be counted, and it’s possible that will decide the outcome. If it remains tied, they will do a recount.
The second Cardington renewal levy for current expenses was defeated by just 10 votes with 174 against the levy and 164 for the levy.
The one countywide issue for renewal of the Morrow County Extension levy lost by only 59 votes with 3,711 against and 3,652 for the levy. Extension Chairman Erin Bender said that with the vote being so close, they will wait until the provisional and mail-in votes are counted and hopefully, the final official vote will be for the levy. However, if not, they will regroup and see what needs to be done before putting the levy on the November ballot.
The Mount Gilead Exempted Village School District income tax renewal levy was defeated with 1,139 against and 852 for the levy.
Mount Gilead Superintendent Zach Howard said the board will assess how the state funding will be decided and discuss the current situation before deciding whether to proceed in putting the levy on the ballot in the fall.
Howard said he had received communication from the state board of superintendents that only half, or eight out of 16 of the school income tax renewal levies in the state, had passed.
Voters in Morrow County voted against the Lexington emergency renewal levy with 137 against and 76 for the levy; However, the levy passed in the district with 1,937 for and 1,818 against the levy.
In the presidential primary, 5,083 Republicans voted for Donald Trump, 659 voted for Nikki Haley, 203 for Ron DeSantis, 73 for Chris Christie, and 60 for Vivek Ramaswamy.
Joe Biden received 781 votes from Democrats, and Dan Phillips received 158 votes.
In the U.S. Senate race, Bernie Moreno came out on top with 2,804 votes, Matt Dolan received 1,872 and Frank LaRose got 1,112 votes.
Tamie Wilson received the most votes with 568 in the Democrat race for the local district for U.S. House over Steve Thomas, who received 298 votes.
In the Democrat Ohio Supreme Court Justice race, Lisa Forbes received the most votes with 437 over Terri Jamison’s 368 votes.
Porter reported a 29.60% voter turnout for the March 19 primary as 7,454 registered voters cast their ballot out of the 25,181 registered voters in Morrow County. Porter said it was actually somewhat more than the 25 percent she had originally predicted.
Alberta Stojkovic is a correspondent for The Morrow County Sentinel. She can be reached at [email protected].
