Stark County’s Nov. 3 general election is now in the hands of the canvass. The Board of Elections posted final, unofficial results just before midnight on election night, with all precincts reporting in the county’s top races, according to The Repository in Canton. The results return Republicans Alan Harold and Angela Kinsey to county office and send a new judge to the Court of Common Pleas — and they remain unofficial until the board certifies them.
Stark County has 247,894 registered voters, and by noon on Election Day, 95,141 of them — more than 38% — had already cast a ballot, Board of Elections Director Susan Verble told The Repository. That included 51,680 absentee and early voters and 43,461 Election Day check-ins. Early voting had topped 43,000 ballots by Oct. 29, per the Ohio Secretary of State’s dashboard, passing the county’s 2022 early turnout.
Harold, appointed commissioner in 2024, won a full term with 81,519 votes, or 57.41%, to 60,481, or 42.59%, for Democrat Tony Townsend, according to the board’s final unofficial results reported by The Repository. “I’m just very, very grateful to the voters of Stark County for the trust they placed in me,” Harold told The Repository. Auditor Kinsey, also appointed in 2024, received 81,838 votes, or 57.67%, to 60,079, or 42.33%, for Democrat Chalice E. Brown, The Repository reported.
Democrat Kristen S. Moore won the open Common Pleas Court seat vacated by Judge Taryn L. Heath, who did not seek re-election. With all precincts reporting, Moore received 68,984 votes, or 59.89%, to 46,203, or 40.11%, for Republican Jennifer L. Dave, according to the board’s unofficial results reported by The Repository. Moore has served seven years as a Common Pleas magistrate.
In the Ohio House, Democrat Krista L. Allison defeated Republican incumbent Jim Thomas in District 49 with 21,344 votes to 17,490, The Repository reported. Christina Hagan won the open District 48 seat with 30,370 votes, or 57%, to Nick Morris’s 22,688, and Rep. Matthew W. Kishman won re-election in District 50 with 25,435 votes, or 59%, to Rylan Z. Finzer’s 17,784, according to unofficial Board of Elections results reported by The Repository.
Stark Library’s tax request fell just short, with 46,104 votes, or 50.25%, against it and 45,641, or 49.75%, in favor, in unofficial totals reported by The Repository. Plain Local Schools voters approved a $64 million bond issue with 11,569 votes, or 53.2%, in favor and 10,167 opposed, according to Board of Elections figures reported by The Repository. Voters also renewed the Stark Area Regional Transit Authority’s 0.25% sales tax for 10 years.
What happens next is the official canvass. Results are unofficial until certified by the Stark County Board of Elections, and under Ohio’s timeline county boards must complete their canvass — reviewing eligible late absentee and provisional ballots — by Nov. 24, with the Secretary of State certifying statewide results by Dec. 4. Until then, these figures can shift slightly.
Photo: Niagara66, CC BY-SA 4.0