MANSFIELD — Voters head to the polls across Richland County on Tuesday to decide a slate of local races, a flurry of school levies and tax issues, and pivotal state races for governor and senator.
Polls are scheduled to open at 6:30 a.m. and close at 7:30 p.m.
Richland Source reporters and editors will be tracking live updates, unofficial vote tallies and local reaction throughout the evening.
Here’s what you can expect us to follow throughout the day and well into the night:
- Statewide and legislative race returns impacting the Richland County region
- Updates from local campaign headquarters
- Analysis and insight from our newsroom as numbers come in
- Richland County Commissioner: Mears vs Kaufmann
- Richland County Probate Judge: Badnell vs Franco
- Ohio House 76th District: John vs Stidam
- U.S. House 5th District: Latta vs Shaver vs Veloff
- State Issue 3
- Local Tax & School Issues: Lexington school issues, Madison school issues, City of Shelby tax issues, Village of Lexington tax issue, Plymouth/Shiloh tax issues and Madison Township tax issues.
Find all of our preview stories on the races and issues above here.
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Supt. Rob Peterson of Madison Local Schools said the district will need to cut nearly $2 million from its budget ahead of next school year after voters rejected a combined renewal levy.
“We try to be good stewards of the district funds and we’re a four star district on our report card,” he said. “We work really hard to do a lot of things right in our district and to not have the support for a renewal levy is pretty frustrating.”
Lexington Local Schools Supt. Kevin Young said there are “difficult decisions ahead” after voters rejected a property tax renewal and proposed income tax at the ballot.
Lucas voters reject 0.75% income tax
The Village of Lucas’ proposed 0.75% income tax has failed. According to final unofficial results from the Richland County Board of Elections, 107 votes were for the additional income tax and 116 votes were against it.
Incumbent Jim Jordan wins Ohio’s 4th Congressional District
According to final unofficial results from the Ohio Secretary of State’s website, Jordan received 64.49% of the vote across the district, including 62.56% in Richland County.
Multiple national news outlets are reporting that Sherrod Brown has won the a seat in the U.S. Senate.
87% of election precincts are reporting across Ohio.
Multiple national news outlets are reporting that Amy Acton has won the Governor’s race.
87% of election precincts are reporting across Ohio.
Incumbant Latta issues statement following reelection
It was announced that Rep. Bob Latta will retake his seat as the U.S. representative for the 5th congressional district in Ohio.
Latta issued the following statement following the victory:
“I am honored to have been reelected by the voters of Ohio’s Fifth Congressional District to continue representing them in the United States House of Representatives. Thank you to the voters for entrusting me with this great responsibility of being your voice in Congress. The confidence you have placed in me over the years is humbling.
“I am steadfastly committed to continuing my work prioritizing efficient, personalized constituent services and delivering results for you and your families. Being out in the community and across the district, I understand what is at stake for hardworking Ohioans as we look to the future. In the 120th Congress, I will continue to promote policies that foster economic growth, advance American energy dominance, protect and secure our communities, care for our veterans, look out for our seniors, safeguard the homeland, and promote a strong national defense.”
“In the meantime, the American people send their Representatives back to Washington where the remainder of 119th Congress faces a challenging workload. From bringing down the price of everyday goods to wrapping up major legislative items like government funding and permitting reform, we must focus on putting the American people first every step of the way.”
“Representing Ohio’s Fifth Congressional District is one of the great honors of my life, and I’m proud to continue my work in Washington.”
Shelby financial director shares statement following levy renewals
SHELBY – On a night full of shut-down tax renewals, Shelby stands as an outlier with two levies projected to pass, securing continued funding for the city’s parks and health departments for the next five years.
Financial Director Brian Crum issued the following statement:
“I am incredibly grateful for the support from our wonderful community, and I thank everyone for passing both our park and health levy renewals. I am very excited to see what we can provide to our citizens with those funds. Thank you all for helping to make the City of Shelby better!”
Madison Township voters reject two levies and gas aggregation on ballot
According to final unofficial results from the Richland County Board of Elections, Madison Township voters rejected both levies and a gas aggregation on the ballot.
2.5-mill fire and EMS levy: 56.41% against the levy and 43.59% for the levy.
4-mill road levy: 60.81% against the levy and 39.19% for the levy.
Natural gas aggregation: 54% votes were no and 46% votes were yes.
Lexington voters approve parks and recreation levy
According to final unofficial results from the Richland County Board of Elections, Lexington parks will see another five years of funding.
55.01% of vote were for the levy and 44.99% were against the levy.
All three Richland County school levies have failed
According to final, unofficial vote totals from the Richland County board of elections (and Morrow County board of elections, which has some Lexington school district voters).
Madison schools operating levy (combined property tax renewal)
- 49.51 percent FOR
- 50.49 percent AGAINST
Lexington schools operating levy (property tax renewal)
- 48.37 percent FOR
- 51.63 percent AGAINST
Lexington schools new earned income tax levy
- 32.09 percent FOR
- 67.91 percent AGAINST
Brian Shaver makes statement after projected U.S. House 5th District defeat
Minutes ago, incumbent candidate Rep. Bob Latta was projected to retake the U.S. House of Representatives’ 5th District seat. His opponent on the Democratic ticket, Brian Shaver, issued the following statement to Richland Source:
“Thank you to everyone who supported this campaign and stood behind our message. We came up short tonight, but make no mistake: it wasn’t for lack of effort.
“While our grassroots strategy was something this district hasn’t seen in quite a while, I’d argue David faced a fairer fight against Goliath. After all, Goliath stood on his own two feet and wasn’t supported by out-of-state money and influence.
“My opponent openly bragged that he wasn’t even campaigning for votes. He merely set up periodic staged photo ops and spent much of the congressional break resting at home — because, as he claimed, he knows what District 5 needs despite not being able to name his constituents’ top five concerns.
“Meanwhile, I was out every day, building relationships locally and hearing from in-district voters about their concerns and hopes for the district.
“I entered this race because I believe in the people who live here, and that commitment remains as strong today as ever. I’m proud of the conversations we started and the vision we share for our community.
“This is not the end of the journey. I intend to run again in 2028, and I would be honored to have your continued support as we keep working toward a better future for Ohio’s 5th Congressional District.”
Richland County incumbents sweep to re-election
A trio of Richland County Republican incumbents swept to re-election on Tuesday in the races I have been following.
With 83 of 83 precincts counted, according to final, unofficial totals from the Richland County Board of Elections:
76th Ohio House
Marilyn John (R) — 65.54 percent (28,606)
Colton Stidam (D) — 34.46 percent (15,038)
Richland County commissioner
Cliff Mears (R) — 66.57 percent (28,818)
Mark Kaufmann (D) — 33.42 percent (14,475)
Richland County probate judge
Kelly Badnell (R) — 58.83 percent (21,716)
Robert Franco (I) — 41.17 percent (15,200)
FINAL UNOFFICIAL RICHLAND COUNTY VOTE TOTALS ON STATEWIDE ISSUES
This was the tally of Richland County ballots voters cast with all 83 precincts reporting:
GOVERNOR
Amy Acton and David Pepper DEM 15,626 35.55%
Don Kissick and James L. Mills LIB 1,791 4.07%
Vivek Ramaswamy and Robert A. McColley REP 26,531 60.36%
U.S. SENATE
Sherrod Brown DEM 15,058 34.17%
Jon Husted REP 26,596 60.36%
STATE ISSUE 3
YES 34,270 77.73%
NO 9,816 22.27%
ATTORNEY GENERAL
Keith Faber REP 28,594 66.01%
John J. Kulewicz DEM 14,725 33.99%
STATE AUDITOR
Annette Blackwell DEM 14,511 33.30%
Frank LaRose REP 29,067 66.70%
SECRETARY OF STATE
Allison Russo DEM 14,692 33.65%
Robert Sprague REP 27,644 63.3%
STATE TREASURER
Jay Edwards REP 28,700 66.10%
Seth Walsh DEM 14,721 33.90%
Both Shelby tax levies renewed
SHELBY – Both levies on the ballot for Shelby, dealing with the city’s health and parks department, have passed, with eight of eight precincts reporting.
Department of Health levy:
For levy: 58.54%
Against levy: 41.46%
Parks levy:
For levy: 63.49%
Against levy: 36.51%
Encumbant Latta wins Richland County in U.S. 5th District race
RICHLAND – Forty-eight of 48 precincts have reported on the U.S. 5th District race between Rep. Bob Latta, Brian Shaver and Michael J. Veloff, showing Latta as the winner.
Rep. Bob Latta: 65.23% of votes
Brian Shaver: 31.75% of votes
Michael J. Veloff: 3.02% of votes
Latta holds 52.37% of votes district-wide, with 252,868 votes counted.
Plymouth shuts down cemetery renewal
PLYMOUTH – With one of one precincts reporting on the tax renewal for Greenlawn Cemetery, the levy has been shut down.
Plymouth Village Council will have two more opportunities to put the levy on the ballot in the future.
For levy: 46.43%
Against levy: 53.57%
Lexington school levies
With 9 of 15 Richland County precincts reporting and all of Morrow County votes tallied here’s where we stand:
- 4.8 mill property tax renewal: 48.22 percent voting for, 51.78 percent voting against
- New 0.75 percent earned income tax: 32.12 percent voting for, 67.88 percent voting against
Madison school levy
With 13 of 21 precincts reporting, the combined levy renewal is failing at this time, by a margin of THREE votes.
If anyone has ever told you your vote doesn’t matter, tight local elections tell you otherwise.
Update on races I am covering tonight
48 of 83 precincts counted
76th Ohio House
Marilyn John (R) — 62.61 percent (20,217)
Colton Stidam (D) — 37.39 percent (12,074)
Richland County commissioner
Cliff Mears (R) — 63.23 percent (20,217)
Mark Kaufmann (D) — 36.77 percent (11,785)
Richland County probate judge
Kelly Badnell (R) — 57.95 percent (15,816)
Robert Franco (I) — 42.05 percent (11,476)
Roughly 12% more votes have been counted in the U.S. House’s 5th District race. Shelby has also reported approximately 9% more votes on its two levies. Here are how the races have evolved:
U.S. House 5th District: 45.76% of votes counted
Rep. Bob Latta (63.62%) v. Brian Shaver (33.68%) v. Michael J. Veloff (2.70%)
- Latta: 12,069 votes
- Shaver: 6,389 votes
- Veloff: 513 votes
Shelby Department of Health renewal: 26.62% of votes counted
For levy (62.71%) v. Against levy (37.29%)
- For levy: 920 votes
- Against levy: 547 votes
Shelby Parks renewal: 26.62% of votes counted
For levy (66.17%) v. Against levy (37.29%)
- For levy: 972 votes
- Against levy: 497 votes