Delaware County voters turned out at a rate that beat the last midterm, and they left one county race close enough that it is headed toward an automatic recount once the results are certified, according to final, unofficial totals from the Delaware County Board of Elections reported by The Delaware Source.
Of the county’s 170,143 registered voters, 118,305 cast ballots in the Tuesday, Nov. 3 general election, a turnout of 69.53 percent, The Delaware Source reported from the board’s final unofficial results, with all 180 precincts reporting. Board member Steve Cuckler had predicted turnout near 70 percent, and the figure topped the 64 percent turnout the county recorded in the 2022 midterm, according to The Delaware Source.
In the race for county commissioner, Republican Renee Vaughan leads Democrat Ryan Grissinger by 514 votes, 57,350 to 56,836, a margin of about 0.45 percent of the votes cast, according to the board’s final unofficial totals reported by The Delaware Source. Ohio law requires an automatic recount in a county race when the margin in the official results is 0.5 percent or less, according to the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office, so the seat being vacated by retiring Commissioner Barb Lewis will not be final until the official count and any recount are complete.
Delaware County backed Democrats in the statewide races, according to the board’s final unofficial totals reported by 1808Delaware. Amy Acton and David Pepper received 62,013 votes, or 52.85 percent, for governor and lieutenant governor, ahead of Vivek Ramaswamy and Robert A. McColley, who received 52,351 votes, or 44.61 percent. In the U.S. Senate race, Sherrod Brown received 59,368 votes, or 50.57 percent, to Jon Husted’s 54,128, or 46.10 percent.
On statewide Issue 3, the proposed constitutional amendment on voter photo identification, Delaware County voters voted yes by 76,210 to 39,772, or 65.71 percent in favor, according to the board’s final unofficial totals reported by The Delaware Source.
Local questions split. Voters approved the Delaware-Morrow Mental Health and Recovery Services Board levy renewal with an increase, 59,396 votes, or 52.18 percent, in favor, according to the board’s totals reported by The Delaware Source. Voters rejected the Delaware County Transit sales and use tax levy, and Sunbury voters approved a city charter amendment prohibiting data center construction in the city, with 78.6 percent in favor, according to 1808Delaware’s report of the board’s results.
What happens next is the official count. The board of elections will complete its official canvass and certify the results later this month, and only the certified margin will determine whether the automatic recount in the commissioner race goes forward. Until certification, every total in the county remains unofficial.
Photo: Christopher L. Riley, CC BY-SA 4.0