» ALL STORIES: Complete coverage of Tuesday’s election
Statewide, Ohio is red
There were nine races in which every Ohioan had a choice, and they chose Republicans all nine times, according to results from the Ohio Secretary of State’s office.
The high-profile U.S. Senate race between JD Vance and Tim Ryan was the only one that was remotely close, with Vance winning 53-47. In the three Ohio Supreme Court races, Republicans got about 56% or 57% of the vote, and in the five state administrative office races, no Republican got less than 58.8% of the vote.
Many would say that’s no big surprise, as Republicans have dominated statewide offices for over a decade.
But after Ohio’s Republican Speaker of House was arrested in a massive corruption/bribery scandal, and with the possibility of abortion issues energizing Democratic turnout, some thought there might be a slight shift.
There was not.
In state legislative districts, Ohio is red
Ohioans voted Tuesday for state legislature seats based on maps that the state Supreme Court said had been unconstitutionally gerrymandered by the Republican-led redistricting commission.
According to Tuesday’s unofficial results, the Ohio House of Representatives, which currently operates with a 64-35 Republican majority, likely will go to a 68-31 Republican majority in January (in District 5, a Republican very narrowly leads, so it could end up 67-32).
Of the 10 Ohio House seats in the core Miami Valley, only one will be held by a Democrat — Willis Blackshear Jr., who ran unopposed in the heavily Democratic District 38.
In the Ohio Senate, what has been a 25-8 Republican majority likely will move to 26-7 in January, according to results from the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office. All five state Senate districts that cover the core Dayton region have been, and will continue to be, represented by Republicans.
DeWine dominates
Less than 24 hours before the polls closed, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, was strenuously booed at former President Donald Trump’s Dayton rally for Vance and other Republican candidates.
But the election results told a very different story. DeWine clearly had the highest vote total and percentage of all candidates in statewide races, dominating former Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley 62.8% to 37.2% in the race for governor.
Montgomery County Commission seat flips
Democrat Carolyn Rice, finishing her first term as Montgomery County Commissioner after 12 years as county treasurer, appears to have been defeated by Republican Jordan Wortham. Montgomery County Commission races are almost always close, with Democrats winning 51-49 and 53-47 in recent years. But for the past 15-plus years, the constant has been that Dems have won, holding all three seats. Tuesday’s unofficial results have Wortham, 33, who has never held public office, winning 50.3% to 49.7%.
Races still up in the air
The outcome of the Wortham-Rice race, like every other race, is unofficial for now. County boards of elections still have to review any provisional ballots for validity, and then have to add those ballots plus mailed absentee ballots that arrive in the next 10 days to the current totals before results become certified and official in a couple weeks.
Races in which the margin ends up less than one-half of a percentage point (like 50.2 to 49.8) go to an automatic recount. But recounts rarely flip a result unless the margin is one or two votes after all ballots are counted.
Warren County oddity
Warren County is solidly Republican. Statewide Republican candidates who got 56-63% of the Ohio vote got 67-73% of the vote in Warren County.
But starting in January, Warren County’s U.S. Congressman will be a Democrat, as Greg Landsman defeated incumbent Republican Steve Chabot, who had spent most of the past three decades in Congress. Chabot dominated the Warren County vote, but Landsman easily won the Hamilton County part of the district, which changed under the new maps.
The same thing happened in the state school board race involving Warren County, where right-leaning incumbent Jenny Kilgore lost to teachers union-endorsed Katie Hofmann. Again, Kilgore won the Warren County vote, but lost in Hamilton County.
Local tax levies
The big question: How would voters react to cities and schools asking for additional tax funding, given economic stresses dating to early 2020 COVID issues and continuing today?
The short answer: It depends.
Voters in Kettering, who have a history of approving frequent school levies, said yes again, by a 52-48 ratio. Voters in Trotwood, who narrowly rejected an income tax increase to pay for roadwork just six months ago, approved the same measure this time, in a 51-49 vote.
But in Beavercreek, the same voters who shot down a new city income tax in May rejected a property tax levy to expand police funding. And Beavercreek’s separate roadwork levy hangs in the balance, passing 50.1% to 49.9% as of Tuesday night, with late ballots still to count.
In the Xenia school district, voters were on the fence even about a renewal levy, most of which pass easily. That income tax renewal also was passing 50.1% to 49.9%, according to the Greene County Board of Elections.
National view
Control of the U.S. House and U.S. Senate was unresolved as of early Wednesday morning, with key races still uncalled.
The results in key battleground states not yet projected include Georgia, Nevada, Wisconsin and Arizona, Axios reported.
About the Author
