Highland County voters turned out at 53.33% in the Nov. 3 general election, casting 14,459 ballots out of 27,110 registered voters, according to the Highland County Board of Elections’ unofficial canvass summary. All 31 of the county’s precincts reported, and the results remain unofficial until certification, which Ohio county boards must complete by Nov. 24 under the Secretary of State’s canvass schedule.
The county’s one contested courthouse race was not close. Republican Brad Roades defeated Democrat Howard Zody for county commissioner, 10,396 votes to 3,163 — 76.7% to 23.3% — with all precincts reporting, according to unofficial results from the Highland County Board of Elections reported by the Scioto Valley Guardian. A second commissioner seat on the ballot drew a single candidate: Alex J. Butler received 11,407 votes running unopposed, according to the board’s unofficial canvass summary.
Highland County voted heavily Republican at the top of the ballot. Republican Vivek Ramaswamy carried the county for governor with 9,889 votes, 69.24%, to Democrat Amy Acton’s 3,675, with Libertarian Don Kissick at 681, according to the board’s unofficial canvass. In the U.S. Senate race for the unexpired term, Republican Jon Husted carried the county with 9,792 votes to Democrat Sherrod Brown’s 3,520, with Libertarian William Redpath at 602 and independent Greg Levy at 355, according to Associated Press results for Highland County. Both statewide races were called for the Democratic candidates statewide, the Scioto Valley Guardian projected — Acton for governor and Brown for the Senate — despite Highland County’s Republican margins.
Republican Keith Faber carried the county for attorney general with 10,749 votes, 75.87%, to Democrat John J. Kulewicz’s 3,419, according to the board’s unofficial canvass, and Jay Edwards received 10,497 votes, 75.07%, in his race on the county ballot, the canvass summary shows.
State Issue 3, the proposed constitutional amendment requiring voters to show photo identification, passed overwhelmingly in Highland County: 11,191 yes votes, 81.58%, according to the board’s unofficial canvass summary. The county’s voters also backed Republican Mike Carey locally in the 15th Congressional District even as Democrat Don Leonard won the district overall, the Scioto Valley Guardian reported.
Election officials counted 5 outstanding absentee ballots and 151 outstanding provisional ballots after election night, according to the Ohio Secretary of State’s reporting cited by the Scioto Valley Guardian. Those ballots are resolved during the official canvass, and none of Highland County’s margins is close enough for the outstanding ballots to change an outcome.
What happens next: the Highland County Board of Elections completes its official canvass and certifies the county’s results by Nov. 24, after which the Secretary of State certifies the statewide races. Roades and the county’s other winners take office at the start of their new terms in January.