WILMINGTON — Early voting is under way in Clinton County, where voters are deciding a Nov. 3 general election ballot topped by three countywide renewal levies, four City of Wilmington rezoning referendums and an East Clinton school income tax, while every county office on the ballot is unopposed. Early in-person voting is at the Clinton County Board of Elections, 111 S. Nelson Ave., Suite 4, in Wilmington, this week from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, Oct. 19–23.
The largest countywide money question is a renewal of the 2.35-mill senior services levy, estimated to collect $2,696,096 a year — $57 for each $100,000 of the county auditor’s market value — for five years, commencing in 2027 and first due in 2028. Voters also decide five-year renewals of the 0.50-mill Clinton County Combined Health District levy, estimated at $458,176 a year, or $9 per $100,000, and the 1-mill levy for the Mental Health Recovery Board Serving Warren and Clinton Counties, at $16 per $100,000.
With no county office contested, the competition is for the seats representing the county in Washington and Columbus. In the redrawn 1st Congressional District, Greg Landsman (Democrat) faces Eric Conroy (Republican) and Nathan Weise (Libertarian). In the 71st Ohio House District, Levi Dean (Republican) faces Krista Magaw (Democrat). The county offices are unopposed: Republicans Mike McCarty for county commissioner and Terence G. Habermehl for county auditor, Chad L. Carey for Court of Common Pleas judge, Probate/Juvenile Division, and Robert A. Hendrickson for 12th District Court of Appeals judge.
Wilmington voters decide four referendums, placed on the ballot by petition, on ordinances adopted Feb. 19, 2026, rezoning land from Rural Residential to Light Industrial: O-26-04, 119.373 acres on SR 730; O-26-05, 65.29 acres at 1957 SR 730; O-26-06, 191.12 acres on McGuinn Road; and O-26-07, 170.11 acres on U.S. 68 South — a yes vote approves each rezoning, a no vote rejects it. Unincorporated-area voters also decide whether the commissioners may aggregate retail natural gas loads, with automatic enrollment unless a customer opts out.
Elsewhere, Blanchester voters decide an additional 1.25-mill cemetery levy for four years, and Blanchester and Marion Township voters decide a five-year renewal of the Blanchester-Marion Township Joint Fire District’s 3.55-mill levy. Midland voters decide five-year renewals of 3 mills for current expenses and 1 mill for police protection, Sabina voters decide a five-year continuation of the village’s 0.5 percent income tax for the police department, and liquor options include Sunday sales by Wawa in Wilmington’s 2-A precinct and permits for Pizza Patts in New Vienna.
East Clinton Local School District voters decide a 1.25 percent income tax on earned income for five years, beginning Jan. 1, 2027, for current expenses, and Miami Trace Local School District voters in Wayne Township decide a five-year fixed-sum renewal levy of $1,900,000, estimated to average 2.2 mills. Voters also help decide Ohio’s governor, attorney general, auditor of state, secretary of state and treasurer of state, two Ohio Supreme Court seats, a U.S. Senate seat, and statewide Issue 3, a proposed constitutional amendment that would enshrine Ohio’s existing photo-ID law in the state constitution. The county sits in the 1st Congressional District, the 10th Ohio Senate District and the 71st Ohio House District.
Absentee applications are due Tuesday, Oct. 27, by 8:30 p.m. Final-week early voting hours are 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 26 and Oct. 28–30, 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Oct. 27, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Oct. 31 and 1 to 5 p.m. on Nov. 1; early voting ends Nov. 1, with none on Monday, Nov. 2. On Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, polls are open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Voters must present an accepted photo ID: an unexpired Ohio driver’s license or state ID, a U.S. passport, or a U.S. military ID.
Photo: Aesopposea, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons