On November 5th, Ohioans turned out to the polls with record turnout for early voting and overall voting. Later that night, off the coattails of President Trump’s impending victory and his charge to Make America Great Again, Ohioans saw a big red sweep, including the White House and Senate flipping Republican.
Senate Victory
Perhaps the biggest victory of the night, besides President Trump and Ohio Senator JD Vance’s historic victory, was the election of Cleveland businessman Bernie Moreno over Sen. Sherrod Brown to be Ohio’s next US Senator. Senator-Elect Moreno ran to secure our border, defend women’s restrooms, and protect life. Senator-Elect Moreno, delivering a victory speech in Westlake, Ohio to a room full of very optimistic and excited supporters, told them of how this wasn’t just a victory for Ohio, but a victory for the country.
“Chuck Schumer, if you’re watching, thanks for the help in the primary, but you’re fired buddy,” Senator-Elect Moreno said referencing the Democrat Senate Majority leader’s meddling in the Republican Senate Primary, “This is a new dawn of Republican leadership with President Trump and JD Vance in the White House. We are going to advance an agenda that is an American agenda.”
Because JD Vance will serve as the nation’s 50th Vice President of the United States, there’s an opening now for his senate seat that will need to be filled via an appointment by Ohio Governor Mike DeWine. Sen. Vance could choose to stay in his senate seat until January 20th, however, Gov. DeWine expects Vance to leave the job sooner. Additionally, Bernie Moreno, though just elected, will be Ohio’s senior Senator as Sherrod Brown and JD Vance will no longer serve the US Senate come January.
Ohio Supreme Court Justice Races
The other statewide offices and issues on the ballot were the three Ohio Supreme Court justice positions up for election. Ohio Republicans dominated, defeating Issue 1 and winning all three Ohio Supreme Court Races. The three incoming Supreme Court justices, Joe Deters, Megan Shanahan, and Dan Hawkins, will deliver a resounding conservative majority to the Ohio Supreme Court and will each serve six-year terms. Ohio Right to Life, a pro-life organization, released a statement congratulating the endorsed Republican candidates.
“These three conservative pro-life judges earned Ohio’s pro-life vote. Now, more than ever, Ohio needs principled and conservative judges on the Supreme Court,” the organization’s statement said, “As it now stands, six out of the seven judges on Ohio’s Supreme Court are endorsed by Ohio Right to Life. We are thrilled to know that the value of life is in the hearts of these individuals and that they will stand for life.”
Issue 1
As mentioned earlier, Issue 1 failed in Ohio, with a 53.8% to 46.2% rejection by Ohio voters. The measure would’ve repealed constitutional safeguards against gerrymandering in Ohio’s constitution and replaced it with a citizen commission of disconnected individuals, appointed by judges who themselves are unelected. With no way to hold this commission accountable, should bad maps be produced from them, Ohioans rejected the redistricting commission that would have likely resulted in even more gerrymandered maps.
Congressional Races
As for Ohio’s congressional races, Ohioans saw every incumbent re-elected (results still pending on District 9), including our own Congressman Warren Davidson [R-District 8] who defeated challenger Vanessa Enoch with 63.5% of the total vote. District 9 is coming down to less than a thousand votes as Democratic incumbent Marcy Kaptur, who is also the longest-serving member of the House of Representatives in the current session, competes for her seat against Republican challenger Derek Merrin. Merrin is currently a State Rep. who was formerly poised to be the Speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives. As of writing, 94% of the vote is in and Congresswoman Kaptur leads by just over 1,000 votes. Other notable races include District 1 where Republican challenger Orlando Sonza was defeated by Democratic incumbent Greg Landsman.
Local Elections
As for Butler County, citizens voted down-slate for the entire Republican party. Sheriff Richard Jones was re-elected to a historic 6th term, beating the prior record. County Commissioners TC Rogers and Don Dixon saw themselves handily re-elected, as well as incumbent State Senator George Lang (West Chester), State Representatives Rodney Creech (West Alexandria), Thomas Hall (Madison Twp), and Jennifer Gross (West Chester Twp). Political newcomer and Pastor Diane Mullins, who defeated incumbent State Representative Sara Carruthers in the primary, won her election against another local pastor, Vanessa Cummins. State Representative-Elect Mullins will serve her first term in the Ohio House starting in January when the 136th Ohio General Assembly begins. Among the other Butler County local office victors were Auditor Nancy Nix, Treasurer Michael McNamara, County Recorder Danny Crank, Engineer Greg Wilkens, and Prosecutor Mike Gmoser. Additionally, the Midpointe Library levy failed to pass, which would have raised library property taxes 3X.
All elected officials will be sworn in by January. While Butler County remains the same, our State and our nation prepare to turn the page after delivering a mandate for President-Elect Trump, Vice President-Elect Vance, and Senator-Elect Moreno to be the nations newest leaders.
