When the local polls opened at 6:30 a.m. on election day, a line had already formed outside of Antioch University Midwest. According to a poll worker, about 200 people voted in the first hour. By 9 a.m., turnout began to slow down. Local voters trickled in throughout the rest of the day. (Photo by Megan Bachman)
2020 Election preliminary results— Trump takes Ohio, Village levy passes
- Published: November 4, 2020
Village levy renewal passes handily
By nearly a 3-1 margin, village residents passed Issue 5, an 8.4-mill municipal property tax levy, for five more years. The levy pays for local streets, parks, the pool, police services, planning and zoning, the Bryan Youth Center and other general fund expenses.
First passed in 2006 by a one vote margin, the levy now generates about $835,000 annually. It replaced money that once came from a combination of state funds and local income tax and has become a steady source of income for the Village government.
Village Manager Josué Salmerón said the approval was a vote of confidence in his administration to deliver essential services, especially in the backdrop of a recent property reappraisal and a pandemic.
“We are committed to creating value for residents, being good stewards of public funds and being collaborative to build our beloved community,” Salmerón added. “Muchas gracias por el apoyo!”
In unofficial results, 1,776 local voters cast ballots in favor of the levy, and 709 voted against it. The average household is expected to pay $380 per year for the levy in 2021.
Ohio voters choose Trump
The swing state of Ohio lived up to its name on the night of Tuesday, Nov. 3, as election returns oscillated between President Donald Trump and contender Joe Biden in a hotly contested race.
According to unofficial results, Trump won Ohio, and its 18 electoral votes, by a margin of 53% to 45%. With 94% of precincts reporting as of Wednesday morning, the difference was about a half million votes out of more than 5.7 million votes counted.
By press time, neither candidate had reached the needed 270 electoral votes nationally to be elected president, and several battleground states were still counting ballots and tallying votes.
Early returns showed a Biden lead in Ohio, in part due to the reporting of mail-in ballots and early voting that went largely in his favor. This year, a record 3.4 million Ohioans voted early or by mail. Then, around 10 p.m., Trump overtook the lead in the state and continued to widen the margin until midnight, when Ohio was called for Trump, significantly increasing his chances of re-election. Trump won the state by more than 8 points, about the same as in 2016.
The majority of Greene County voters, 58.8%, cast a ballot for Trump, compared to 39.3% for Biden, slightly less than the 60% of county voters who voted for Trump in 2016. A total of 50,937 county voters chose Trump, while 34,023 voted for Biden, according to unofficial results.
The county’s turnout was 74% this year, higher than in both 2016 (71%) and 2018 (67%). An unprecedented 64% of these voters voted early in-person or by absentee ballot this year, two-thirds by mail. That’s higher than the state average, which was expected to be in the range of 53%, according to unofficial results.
No precinct breakdowns were available by press time, so the voting behavior of Yellow Springs and Miami Township residents is currently unknown. However, the county has reported that 2,586 of 3,309 local registered voters cast a ballot this election, a turnout of 78%. That was down slightly from a turnout of 82% of registered voters at the 2018 midterm elections.
GREENE COUNTY
Perales carries open Commission race
Republican Rick Perales is the decided winner in the Greene County Commission race to fill the open seat being vacated by Bob Glaser, a long-time Beavercreek-based politician who is retiring from the County Board of Commissioners after two terms.
Perales, the state representative for Ohio District 73 who is leaving the statehouse because of term limits, had nearly 65% of the vote Tuesday over his opponent, Democrat Colin Morrow, a Fairborn city councilman who secured about 35% of the vote. The unofficial tally, with 100% of the precincts reporting, was 54,495 for Perales to 29,706 for Morrow.
Perales, who is retired from the U.S. Air Force, previously served as a Greene County Commissioner before holding state office.
Health department levy renewed
Two thirds of voters approved a 0.8-mill, five-year property tax levy in support of the operations of Greene County Public Health. The unofficial tally was 56,895 (66.7%) voting for and 28,489 (33.7%) voting against it. This year, the county health department has led the county response to COVID-19 and also provides a variety of other health-related services. The average local household will pay $71 per year for the levy starting in 2022.
In other contested county races:
• Coroner: Incumbent Greene County Coroner Dr. Kevin Sharrett, a Republican, bested Democratic challenger Dr. Steve Bujenovic by a vote of 54,274 (65.63%) to 28,426 (34.37%) in Tuesday’s contest.
Sharrett, who practices family medicine at clinics in Jamestown and Cedarville, has served as county coroner for six terms. Bujenovic, a Yellow Springs resident, has been a physician for more than 30 years.
• Common Pleas Court Judge (Probate Division): Criminal defense attorney Mark Babb, a longtime Yellow Springs resident running as an Independent candidate, failed Tuesday in his bid to unseat Republican incumbent Thomas O’Diam as a judge in the probate division of the Greene County Court of Common Pleas. The unofficial final vote was 41,663 (61.14%) for O’Diam and 26,481 (38.86%) for Babb.
O’Diam has served as a probate judge since August 2013, after being appointed by then Gov. John Kasich to fill the vacancy left by the retirement of Robert Hagler. He won his first full six-year term at the polls in 2014.
In uncontested county races:
A slate of Republican incumbents ran unopposed on the November ballot to return to their respective offices.
• Tom Koogler received 63,356 votes to continue serving on the Board of County Commissioners.
• Yellow Springs resident AJ Williams was returned to his seat as Clerk of Courts, with 63,299 votes.
• Longtime Sheriff Gene Fischer, who received 65,037 votes, will continue serving as the county’s top law enforcement officer.
• Kraig Hagler, who was appointed treasurer by the county’s Republican Central Committee in January 2019 after former Treasurer Dick Gould became a Commissioner, received 63,236 votes in a run for his first full term.
• The only female officer-holder at the county level, Stephanie Ann Goff received 63,273 votes in her bid for her first full-term as engineer. She assumed the position June 1, 2019, having been appointed after the retirement of longtime Engineer Bob Geyer.
• Michael Buckwalter, with 58,840 votes, will serve another term as County Common Pleas Court Judge (General Division).
• Cynthia Martin, who had 58,018 votes, will continue as a judge in the Domestic Relations Division of the Common Pleas Court.
OHIO
Lampton wins State House District 73
Republican Brian Lampton won the open seat in State House District 73 by a margin of 58% to 42% over Democrat Kim McCarthy. Lampton garnered 35,824 votes to McCarthy’s 26,372. This was McCarthy’s second run for the seat, currently held by Republican Rick Perales. A resident of Fairborn, Lampton owns a Beavercreek insurance agency.
Hackett returned to Senate District 10
Incumbent Republican Bob Hackett defeated Democratic challenger Charles Ballard for State Senate District 10 by a districtwide margin of 65% to 35%. In Greene County, Hackett won by a margin of 64% to 36%, with 53,882 votes to Ballard’s 30,629. Hackett was elected to the seat in 2016, after being appointed to fill a vacancy earlier that year.
In nonpartisan regional and state races:
• Second District Court of Appeals Judge: In a bid to fill a vacant seat — one of five judges on the appeals court serving Greene, Clark, Montgomery, Miami, Darke and Champaign counties — Chris Epley won against Marshall G. Lachman, with a vote of 227,397 (54.43%) to 190,355 (45.57%), according to the Ohio Secretary of State’s unofficial final results.
• Ohio State Board of Education for District 10: Brendan P. Shea won a close race against Mary E. Binegar with a regional vote of 196,143 (50.4%) to 193,038 (49.6%), in a run for an open seat on the state panel.
• Ohio Supreme Court Justice (term commencing Jan. 1, 2021): Incumbent Sharon L. Kennedy, with a vote of 2,667,548 (55.06%), held off challenger John P. O’Donnell, with a vote of 2,177,003 (44.94%), according to the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office.
• Ohio Supreme Court Justice (term commencing Jan. 2, 2021): 10th District Appeals Court Judge and former Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner defeated incumbent state Supreme Court Justice Judi French, with a vote of 2,624,224 (55.24%) to 2,125979 (44.76%), according to the state’s unofficial final tally.
U.S. CONGRESS
Turner re-elected to District 10
Longtime incumbent Republican Mike Turner clinched the hard-fought race for U.S. House District 10, defeating Democratic challenger Desiree Tims by a districtwide margin of 59% to 42%. In Greene County, Turner won 66% to 34%, with 57,031 votes to Tims’ 29,223. Turner was first elected to the U.S. House in 2002, and has been returned to serve his tenth term. This was Dayton Democrat Tims’ first run for political office.
Local precinct breakdowns were not available by press time. They will be posted in next week’s News as well as online at ysnews.com.
3 Responses to “2020 Election preliminary results— Trump takes Ohio, Village levy passes”
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Some people think the presidential election is not over. Curiously,this mindset begs to question the current psychiatric definition of “psychotic.” Would it not be possible to forcefully remove those from office who exhibit symptoms of such psychosis because of its inherent hindrance to fulfilling their elected duties and possible threat to the public at large?
They must announce a president elect soon;we’re all out of donuts.