Washington County voters backed Republicans in the statewide races on their own ballots even as Democrats won those races statewide, according to unofficial results reported to the Ohio Secretary of State, and the county’s results will be certified on November 17. Turnout was just over 55 percent, nearly identical to the last midterm, Washington County Board of Elections Director Mandy Amos told WTAP.
About 23,000 of roughly 41,300 registered voters cast a ballot, according to MASH Focus’s reporting of the county results, and Election Day ran without major issues at county polling places, Amos told WTAP. Almost 400 provisional ballots were cast between early voting and Election Day, and none of the local races were close enough for provisionals to change the outcome, Amos told WTAP.
In the governor’s race, Washington County gave Vivek Ramaswamy 13,283 votes to Amy Acton’s 8,290 in unofficial results reported to the Ohio Secretary of State, with 49 of 50 precincts reporting. In the U.S. Senate race, the county gave Jon Husted 13,423 votes to Sherrod Brown’s 7,788, with William Redpath at 867 and Greg Levy at 560 in the same unofficial count. Acton and Brown won their races statewide.
State Issue 3, the photo identification constitutional amendment, passed big in Washington County as it did statewide, with 16,802 votes yes to 5,822 no in the unofficial count reported to the Secretary of State. The county’s pattern held in other statewide races as well, favoring Republican candidates locally while the statewide outcomes went the other way.
In the local commissioner races, Stephanie Lang won the full term commencing January 1, 2027, defeating Brian Whalin with about 66 percent, and Ronald Gregory Nohe held the seat for the unexpired term ending January 1, 2029, with just over 50 percent against John Rauch and Justin Harris, according to MASH Focus’s Washington County results reporting. State Representative Kevin Ritter kept his Ohio House District 94 seat, according to MASH Focus, and WTAP reported Ritter defeated Wanda Sheard by almost 9,000 votes across the multi-county district.
Countywide levies for behavioral health, the public library and the 911 system all passed, according to MASH Focus, and several township fire and EMS levies passed as well. The 911 measure on the county’s sample ballot was a 0.35-mill renewal for five years, and a behavioral health measure was a 0.5-mill renewal for prevention, treatment and recovery programs, according to the Washington County Board of Elections sample ballot.
What happens next is certification. Board staff are reviewing the provisional ballots for registration and correct polling location, and the board will vote to approve or reject them at its meeting on November 17, when it also certifies the results, Amos told WTAP. Any recounts in closer statewide races would be ordered by the Ohio Secretary of State’s office, Amos told WTAP, and in December the board will audit randomly selected precincts, checking machine counts against paper ballots.
Photo: w_lemay, CC BY-SA 2.0