Primary day wasn’t very eventful this year, but there were a few issues and races voters decided.
Ohio Public Radio’s Karen Kasler reports.
The state’s public works bond program is still undefeated. It was renewed by voters for the fourth time with Issue 1, which allows the state to sell nearly $2 billion in bonds over the next decade to finance local bridge, road, water and sewer projects. Michael Miller heads the Ohio Public Works Commission, which will work with local communities that will use the money to build new projects or repair existing infrastructure.
“Quite frankly, we felt we had a very good story to tell. We did our best to tell it, and the voters, I think, are showing that they, once again, support extending the program for an additional ten years.”
Unofficial results showed Issue 1 passed 65% to 35% - that’s the best the bond program has performed with voters since it was first approved in 1987. There was a contested primary for the Democratic nomination for governor, but by 83% to 17%, Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald easily defeated Larry Ealy, an unemployed Dayton area man who had no campaign organization and had raised no money. In other ballot news, all 12 Republican and 4 Democratic members of Ohio’s Congressional delegation won their primaries or were unopposed. And since the average margin of victory for those 16 candidates two years ago was 32 points, it’s expected the primary winners will prevail this fall. Among state lawmakers, the entire House and half the Senate are up this year. And three incumbents Representatives lost their primaries – Democrat Zach Milkovich of Akron and Republicans Peter Stautberg and Peter Beck, both of Cincinnati. Beck is preparing to stand trial on fraud charges for misleading investors.
