A Quick Look at Miami County Election Results
Vol. III, No. 158 - A few local races are heading to recounts
We Are Feeding our Neighbors here at Civic Capacity
Throughout November, this publication is giving our readers an opportunity where our readers can support local food pantries. Every dollar received from our “Buy Me a Coffee” Page will be given to New Path Food Pantries.
We started November with a modest goal to raise $750. After the fourth day of our campaign, our community raised $1,785! Our new goal for November is to raise $2,500. You can be a part of this effort by making a donation here:
Election Day Rundown
With all the races in yesterday’s elections, there were bound to be a few noteworthy numbers that jumped out on the final tally. Today, this publication will dive into some of the results from races around the county.
In Troy, Republican incumbents Todd Severt, Susan Westfall were reelected to City Council’s at-large seats by comfortable margins, each garnering 28% of the vote. Republican Lynne Snee was relected to the third at-large seat with 24% of the vote, while newcomer non-party candidate Bryan Begg was fourth with 20% of the vote. In the first ward race, Republican incumbent Jeff Whidden defeated first-time Democratic candidate Jeff Harris, 69% to 31%. Also, Troy’s Hayner Center levy passed 59% to 41%. Voter turnout was relatively healthy at 21%.
And while county wide turnout was at 24%, turnout in Piqua was a paltry 14%, even with a competitive three-way race for an open seat on the City Commission, Rick Walker prevailed with 46% of the vote, follwed by Damon Wilson with 38% and Jack Bastian with 16%.
West Milton voters elected Jeremy Sodders as the town’s Mayor, defeating Frederic Francis by a 56% to 44% margin with a 25% voter turnout in the village. There appears that there will be a recount for the second seat on the Village Council. Scott Fogel was the top vote getter with 35.45% of the vote and the second seat appears to go to Kasey Metz with 23.33% of the vote, but third place candidate Christopher Todd ended up with 23.08%, a diffrence of just three votes.
In Bethel Township, newcomes Joshua Wilkerson-Bienick was the top vote getter in the race for Township Trustee with nearly 38% of the vote, he will be joined on the board by incumbent Julie Reese who earned 35% of the vote. Donald Black was hoping to get back on the board, after losing his seat in the 2023 election, but lost with 27% of the vote. 31% of voters turned out for the election.
Monroe Township voters elected political newcomer Luke Zerkle to the Board of Trusteesas he was the top vote getter with 42% of the vote; he will be serving with Michael Flora who earned 31% of the vote. Incumbent Rodney Martino was not re-elected after earning 26% of the vote. The township had 37% turnout - the highest of any township.
Springcreek Township voters elected Vernon Quinter, Jr. and John Levering as trustees, in a five person race, both nearly earning 25% of the vote each with 32% voter turnout.
The race for the two seats on the Washington Township Board of Trustees also appears to be headed for a recount. Edward McMaken was the top vote getter with just under 29% of the vote and the second seat appears to go to Scott Black with 122 votes, or 24.65%, but third place finisher Frederick Schwable has 121 votes or 24.44%. A one vote difference will mean a recount is gong to occur.
Kristen Ambrugey (28.70%), Natalie Donahue (26.94%) and Andrew Vieth (23.07%) were all elected to the Bethel Local School Board of Education. In Bradford, Holly Hill (31.20%), Michelle Lavy (30.72%) and Scott Besecker (21.60%) were elected to the Board of Education. Covington voters, with 33% turnout, elected Graham Furrow (25.33%), Tammy Jo Sprankle (24.53%) and Angie Marion (22.93%) to the Board of Edication.
In the Miami East School District, a competivie five person race brought out 30% of voters to elect Jake Coverstone (25.61%), Amanda Howell (22.44%) and Pam Rice (19.43%). Troy City School District voters, with 21% turnout, elected Theresa Packard (33.42%), Levi Fox (32.23%) and Zack Whitehead (30.32), with roughly 4% of votes going to write-in candidates. Write-in candidates won in Tipp City’s Board of Education race, with two write-in candidates Katie Ernst (1,445 votes) and Karen Kaibas (1,332 votes) joining Lydia Pleiman (1,506) on the Board of Education; Pleiman was the only candidate with their name on the ballot.
All tax levies in the county passed with the lone execption of the six voters who live in the City of Union that voted against that city’s income tax. The margin of victory for the tax measures were all fairly healthy; the close tax levy race with for additional millage in Pleasant Hill-Newton Township, where the measure won 60% to 40%.
In a future edition, this publication will dive deeper into some of the precinct level data on some of these races. If there is a specific race you want us to cover, please let us know in the comments!
Participate in our November Community Survey!
Back when this project was kicked off over two years ago, this newsletter was imagined as a helpful tool to not only help have our residents understand their community, but also to receive feedback and get ideas on how residents perceived where our hometowns was headed.
In order to achieve that goal, the decision was made to release a small survey that would ask residents their thoughts and feelings every two months. Every month seemed excessive, yet, once a quarter didn’t seem quite frequent enough. The idea was to help create a picture of the sentiment in the community and measure that sentiment over time.
So, throughout November, you can participate in our survey to give your thoughts and feelings on the direction of your hometown!
You can access the survey here:
Thanks for your time and your participation! It is greatly appreciated!
Endorsement Pieces Welcome!
Is there a candidate or issue you are excited to support this election season? Let us know! We would be happy to publish your supportive ideas for your candidate or tax issue on this November’s ballot!
Unlike traditional media sources, you aren’t limited to word counts, nor will your ideas be stuck behind a paywall. We believe in the free exchange of ideas and welcome your contributions. Send your ideas to: pinnaclestrategiesltd@gmail.com.
A New Handbook to grow Civic Capacity!
Recently, we created a new digital handbook, “The Citizen’s Guide to Public Records”. This handbook is designed to help residents have a better understanding of public meetings and meeting records. It’s filled with templates, ideas and other information that will open a new world of public affairs.
Also, if you have ideas for future handbooks, please let us know at pinnaclestrategiesltd@gmail.com.
Want to Learn More About Troy’s Businesses?
Our publication has recently released our September 2025 Economic Abstract, the most comprehensive and up-to-date report on the businesses and industries in the City of Troy. For those that want to understand our community’s business and industries, this is a must-have report.
Thank you to our New Media Partners!
Recently, many of our stories has been showing up on the local news website, www.mymiamicounty.com. We are grateful for the good folks for sharing our work with their audience and we would encourage our readers to check them out at their website!
Our publication would also like to recognize the good work being done at www.piquanewsnow.com. Piqua News Now is a new web-based news and information site for the Miami County area, with a specific focus on Piqua!
In addition, the good folks at Piqua News Now have started a new, 24-hour streaming YouTube channel. This channel is awesome with continuous weather updates and more importanly, it provides a 24-hour audio feed from county wide dispatch. Check it out here!
Also, thanks for reading today’s Civic Capacity Newsletter! Please feel free to share this information with your friends and neighbors.
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