Editor’s Note
We updated this story to reflect that the county prosecuting attorney race will be unopposed.
RICHLAND COUNTY — The Richland County Board of Elections certified its list of candidates and issues on Dec. 21 for the upcoming primary election.
There are three contested races at the local level including two commissioner races and county sheriff.
Matt Finfgeld, director of the Richland County Board of Elections, said the board of elections will meet again Jan. 2 to certify candidates for statewide races.
Write-in candidates have until Jan. 8 to submit petitions and independents have until March 18.
“All the county candidates who have petitioned were approved Thursday, but Donald Zehner for sheriff is still pending,” Finfgeld said. “If Judge (Phillip) Naumoff sends us a letter certifying his living history and absence of a criminal record, then we’ll certify him too.”
Zehner is a former captain with the sheriff’s department.
Incumbent Richland County Sheriff J. Steve Sheldon and Matthew James Mayer have both been certified for the sheriff’s race. Mayer retired from the Richland County Sheriff’s Department in 2015 and ran unsuccessfully against Sheldon in 2016 as a Democratic candidate.
Incumbent county commissioners Darrell Banks and Tony Vero have both filed to retain their seats.
Banks will face challenger Jodie Dees, a lawyer, in the Republican primary.
The winner will go up against Aaron Williams Jr. in November. Williams is the pastor of Maddox Memorial Church of God in Christ and the only Democrat to file for the seat.
Vero will be challenged by David Morgenstern in a separate Republican primary. The race marks Morgenstern’s eighth run for county commissioner since 2010.
Current prosecuting attorney Jodie Schumacher filed to retain her position, which the Richland County Republican Party Central Committee selected her for in May.
Schumacher has worked in the Richland County Prosecutor’s Office since 2016. She was sworn in to complete former prosecutor Gary Bishop’s term, which will expire Dec. 31, 2024.
Matthew Metcalf, a former employee of the Richland County Prosecutor’s Office, pulled a petition for prosecutor but did not file it, so Schumacher will run unopposed.
The deadline to register to vote is Feb. 20, with early voting starting Feb. 21. Early voting ends at 5 p.m. on March 17. For hours at the Richland County Board of Elections during early voting, visit the office’s website.
Issues on the ballot
The City of Mansfield will have a four year, one-quarter percent income tax back on the ballot for the purpose of replacing existing city water mains. If passed, collection will start in 2025 and expire at the end of 2028.
The Village of Butler will ask voters to renew a five-year, 2 mill levy for general construction, reconstruction, resurfacing and repair of streets, roads and bridges.
Cass Township voters will decide whether or not to renew a five-year, 1 mill levy for the maintenance and operation of cemeteries.
The Bellville-Jefferson Township Fire Department will ask voters in Jefferson Township for a replacement levy. The ballot measure would replace a five-year, 2 mill levy with a five-year, 6 mill levy commencing in 2024.
Residents voted down a similar measure in November. Local officials say the increase in funds would allow the department to employ full-time staff.
Troy Township will have a five-year, half-mill levy replacement on the ballot for maintaining and operating the Lexington-Troy Township Cemetery.
Lexington Local Schools will ask voters to renew a ten-year, 6.4 mill property tax for operational expenses.
Voters in Mansfield’s 1-F precinct will vote on a local liquor option that would allow a convenience store at 2264 S. Main in Mansfield to sell beer, wine and mixed beverages on Sundays.
