MANSFIELD — Cliff Mears said he worked hard for another term in office.
On Tuesday, Richland County Republican Party voters made his efforts pay off, handing him a victory in the party primary.
Mears defeated challenger David Morgenstern, receiving 62.59 percent of the vote, according to final, unofficial totals from the Richland County Board of Elections.
Mears, a Mansfield resident, received 8,727 votes to 5,216 for Morgenstern, who lives in Lexington.
Mears will take on Democrat Mark Kaufmann in November’s general election. Kauffman was unopposed in Tuesday’s primary, receiving 5,146 votes.
“This is my sixth political campaign (including prior races for Mansfield City Council) and everything really fell into place with this one,” Mears said Tuesday evening from his election night gathering at DLX in downtown Mansfield.
“I had, in all honesty, an overwhelming amount of support. I had so many people knocking on doors for me, the Young Republicans, a great number of elected officials, a lot of friends and supporters were out knocking on doors for the last month,” Mears said.
“We had, I think, all the bases covered. We spent a lot on advertising and getting the word out and I think the results that this group of commissioners has experienced had a big impact.
“I think Richland County’s best days are ahead of us,” the 72-year-old Mears said. “We have got a lot of things on the horizon. We have seen a lot of growth and we’re trying to plan for that growth appropriately.
“I think voters recognize that we’ve got some good things going on,” Mears said.
Mears said he ran an “honest and honorable campaign” and also credited his wife, Cheryl, for her support during the primary election season.
“When I’m out doing the people’s work as commissioner, she’s out with her friends knocking on doors for me, passing out my literature and putting up yard signs for me,” he said. “Cheryl has been amazing.”
The race between Mears and Morgenstern, 63, was a rematch of the 2022 GOP primary between the two men. In that previous race, Mears received 62.8 percent of the party vote, winning 8,693 to 5,141.
A former member of Mansfield City Council, Mears was appointed to the county Board of Commissioners in 2021 to complete an unexpired term and ran a successful campaign to be retained in 2022. He was unopposed in the general election that year.
It was Morgenstern’s ninth try for a commissioner’s seat, running every two years since 2010.
“I’m running for the office,” he said during the campaign. “(Mears) has nothing to do with what I am doing. Anybody can run and I choose to run.
“If I win … great. If I don’t … great. I tried. Nobody else is and that’s what is sad in our society,” Morgenstern said during the campaign.
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Mears takes on Morgenstern in GOP primary for Richland County commissioner
Incumbent Cliff Mears takes on challenger David Morgenstern on May 5 in the Republican Party primary for the Richland County Board of Commissioners.
