While Marysville attorney Leah Sellers received more than 400 votes in Union County, ballots cast for her did not count. Last month, Sellers pulled out of the race for Ohio’s 4th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. Sellers, a former city council member, initially said she would run as a Republican, then filed as a Democrat before withdrawing. Pictured above is a sign displayed at the Union County Board of Elections, where absentee voting took place for the past several weeks.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Kevin Behrens)
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Less than a quarter of Union County residents chose to exercise their right to vote Tuesday.
According to statistics from the Union County Board of Elections, 7,711 of the county’s more than 37,000 registered voters, 20.49 percent, cast a ballot in Tuesday’s primary election.
“I wish it was higher,” said Tina LaRoche, director of the Union County Board of Elections. “I don’t know why there just wasn’t the interest.”
She said that everything “went well.”
“We had a couple issues, normal issues, but everything went well,” LaRoche said.
She said there were contested gubernatorial races that should have received voter attention. LaRoche said the board prepares for each election the same way.
“It doesn’t matter if we have 20 percent turnout or 80 percent, it takes the same amount of time and preparation to get ready for the election,” LaRoche said.
She credited the more than 200 poll workers with hosting an efficient election.
“We have great poll workers, they are the best,” LaRoche said. “We appreciate everything they do. Without their support and dedication, I don’t know how we would pull everything together.”
LaRoche emphasized the point, detailing a Liberty Township worker who broke several vertebrae in a crash last week.
“She worked the polls in a rocking chair,” LaRoche said. “It was very uncomfortable, but she showed up. She didn’t want to let us down.”
She also detailed a Taylor Township worker who spent the weekend in the hospital with her father, but feared she would have to leave the polling location during the day.
“She thought she would have to leave to go home, get her parents to bring them in to vote because voting is so important to them,” LaRoche said.
She said the county is full of “story after story of our really amazing poll workers.”
Board officials said there are 59 provisional ballots to be counted, along with any absentee ballots received after the election, but postmarked before. The vote count will be made official after the May 22 board meeting.
In other races:
– Former Marysville Mayor Christiane Schmenk received 4,488 votes in the Republican primary for county commissioner and will face Democrat Tiffanie Roberts, who received 1,389 votes, according to unofficial results from the Union County Board of Elections.
– Current Union County Auditor Andrea Weaver, the only candidate to file for the position, received 4,674 votes. She is seeking a third term in office.
– Republican incumbent Jim Jordan will face Democrat Janet Garrett in November to represent Ohio’s 4th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. It is the third time the two will run against one another.
Jordan earned 55,767 votes, about 85 percent, topping Joseph Miller of Marion, who received 9,577 votes, about 15 percent, according to unofficial results.
Garrett, a retired Oberlin teacher, received 17,507 votes, about 84 percent, pushing her past Cody James Slatzer-Rose, who received 3,385 votes, about 16 percent, according to unofficial results.
Leah Sellers, a Marysville attorney and former city council member, withdrew from the race last month. Votes for Sellers were not counted. Sellers initially said she would run as a Republican, then chose to file as a Democrat.
In addition to Union County, Ohio’s 4th Congressional District represents all of Allen, Auglaize, Champaign, Crawford, Logan, Sandusky, Seneca and Shelby as well as parts of Erie, Huron, Lorain, Marion and Mercer counties.
– In Dover Township’s precinct 2, according to unofficial results from the Union County Board of Elections, Doug Cooper, with 79 votes, topped Eugene Walter Mayer, who received 71 votes, to sit on the Republican Central Committee.
In other issues:
– Liberty Township voters split on a pair of issues. Township residents approved a five-year renewal with an increase to 7.75 mill for fire protection and emergency medical service. The levy received 243 votes for, about 61 percent, and 158 votes against, about 39 percent, according to unofficial results from the Union County Board of Elections.
The same Liberty Township residents voted 174 for, about 43 percent, and 229 against, about 57 percent, rejecting an additional five-year, 1.5-mill levy to help pay for current expenses, according to unofficial results from the Union County Board of Elections.
– Taylor Township approved a five-year renewal with a decrease to 3 mills to pay for fire safety and public safety officer services. The issue received 249 votes, about 82 percent, in favor and 56 votes, 18 percent, against.
– Darby Township voters, except those in the Pleasant Valley Fire District, voted to renew a 2-mill levy for five years to fund fire protection and emergency medical service. The levy received 93 votes for, about 69 percent, and 42 votes against, about 31 percent.
– Voters in the Marysville 12th precinct approved a pair of liquor options, allowing Red Shed Legendary Bar-B-Que and Crazy Burrito to sell liquor on Sundays.
Those claiming seats in uncontested races for the Republican Central Committee include:
Allen 1, Andrew J. Smarra, 108 votes
Allen 2, Gary G. Wallace, 187 votes
Richwood 1, Von Beal, 58 votes
Richwood 2, Randall E. Riffle Sr., 49 votes
Claibourne, Jeffrey Lee Evans, 126 votes
Darby 1, Roger D. Nicol, 119 votes
Darby 2, Jeff A. Stauch, 117 votes
Dover 1, Willemyndert Van Dam, 93 votes
Jackson, Linda McNamee, 103 votes
Plain City, Belva May Latham, 53 votes
Jerome 1, Kevin G. Thelen, 149 votes
Jerome 2, Kenneth Dale Gordon, 34 votes
Jerome 3, John R. Woerner, 71 votes
Jerome 4, Kermit N. Morse III, 71 votes
Jerome 5, Gary Robert Conklin, 78 votes
Leesburg, Jeffery L. Robinson, 163 votes
Liberty 1, David L. Thornton, 116 votes
Millcreek, Keith A. Conroy, 162 votes
Marysville 1, Letitia Rayl, 104 votes
Marysville 3, Connie M. Sabins, 137 votes
Marysville 5, Donald Martin Howard, 100 votes
Marysville 6, Steve A. Stolte, 110 votes
Marysville 7, Karen D. Haller, 96 votes
Marysville 8, Mary Ann Hyland, 102 votes
Marysville 9, Marjorie D. Scheiderer, 164 votes
Marysville 10, Robert W. Parrott, 80 votes
Marysville 11, Christiane Schmenk, 190 votes
Marysville 12, Lesley K. Phillips II, 66 votes
Marysville 13, Justin Hogan, 103 votes
Maryville 14, Andrea L. Weaver, 166 votes
Paris, Gary J. Lee, 182 votes
Taylor 1, Dean E. Cook, 78 votes
Taylor 2, Beth Marshall, 103 votes
Milford Center, Steven Ray Mapes, 61 votes
Union, Randy C. Poland, 116 votes
Washington, Wayne H. Rickard, 81 votes
York, Logan J. Rife, 126 votes.