MANSFIELD — The Richland County Commissioners will keep their veteran member as Marilyn John retains her seat.
Unofficial results from the Richland County Board of Elections show John defeated challenger Rebecca Hergatt by 25 percentage points. John earned 27,142 (62.91 percent) of the vote while Hergatt earned 16,000 (37.09 percent) of the vote.
“I’m very excited about the results,” John said on Tuesday evening. “I’ve worked hard over the last four years, and I feel like I’ve achieved some of the things I set out to do at the beginning.
“I’m excited to get back to work.”
John was first elected as a Richland County Commissioner in 2015. Prior to that, she served as the mayor of Shelby.
Over the last four years, John said she has been most proud of achieving financial stability within Richland County’s government. Since she took office, John said she has helped create an $800,000 rainy-day fund and has grown budget carryover from $130,000 to $4 million.
John said she was also proud of putting a dent in $2.3 million worth of maintenance projects, planned over a five-year time period.
“We’ve also built a stronger relationship with the economic development entities,” John said. “We are at the table for economic and community development, and I think that’s where we need to be.”
For her second term as commissioner, John hopes to continue a strong financial base for Richland County. She hopes to make connections to fill the workforce needs facing many businesses throughout the county, which she said goes back to having a strong relationship with economic development entities.
“A good financial base is good for businesses, and we need a pro-growth environment,” John said. “If the county is strong, that sets us up in a good position.”
On a personal note, John also looks forward to continuing the seventh year of her LeaderRichland program with the Ohio State Mansfield campus and North Central State College.
“The other thing that’s a passion of mine is building good leadership skills in our young people,” she said.
