Miami County Primary Election Ballot Takes Shape

Voters will head to the polls on March 19th to participate in the Primary Election

In less than three months, voters throughout Ohio will cast ballots to put foward partisan candidates in next November’s general election. In many instances, there are only declared candidates from one party on the ballot and the Primary Election will act as the de-facto election for many positions. This past week was the filing deadline for these races and as candidates submitted their petitions. While these petitions still need to be certified by the Board of Elections, we can get an idea of how the March Primary ballot will look for local races in Miami County.

Ohio House of Representatives - District 80

In the 80th House District, which comprises all of Miami County and portions of Darke County, Republican incumbent Jena Powell of Arcanum will face off against fellow Republican Johnathan Newman of Troy. The winner of that race will face off against the only Democratic candidate to file for the race, Melissa Van Dyke of Wayne Lakes in Darke County.

Miami County Sheriff

Republicans in Miami County will choose the county’s next Sheriff in March as Paul Reece will again challenge incumbent Sheriff Dave Duchak. This will be the third times these two candidates will appear on the same ballot for the position. In 2016, Duchak won election as Sherriff in a four-person race with 34% of the vote with Reece coming in second with 30% of the vote. In 2020, the two candidates faced off with Duchak winning the race by a 58% to 42% margin.

Republican Party State Central Committee Members

In the March primary, Republican voters will also elect one man and one woman to serve on the 66-member State Central Committee for the party. The candidates will run to represent the Fifth State Senate District which comprises all of Miami and Preble Counties, along with portions of Butler, Darke and Montgomery Counties.

Incumbent Jessica Franz of Tipp City will be opposed by Valerie Sargent-Wood of Middletown and Incumbent Steve Bruns of Conover wil be opposed by Timothy Echemann of Piqua.

Republican Party County Central Committee Members

Republican voters in each precinct will elect one member to the county party’s Central Committee. In 2020, there were 11 contested races for seats on the Central Committee and this cycle, there appear to be 3 contested races. Voters in Elizabeth Township will choose between current County Auditor Matthew Gearhardt and Mindy Konicki. Voters in the Newton East precinct will either elect Kevin Kleman or Phillip McFadden. Finally, voters in the Staunton North precincts will choose between curent County Engineer Paul Huelskamp and Mark Williams.

Thanks for reading today’s Civic Capacity Newsletter. It is the mission of this publication to better connect you to the decisions being made in the community. Please feel free to share this with your friends and neighbors, if you have found this information helpful. Also, feel free to share your ideas and insights in the comment thread.