Primary Election results for 2022 trickled in Tuesday night at the Montgomery County courthouse due to a contested race separated by fewer than 20 votes.
The tight races prompted three recounts by Montgomery County Clerk Karyn Douglas and her staff — the third time by hand — causing a delay in the unofficial results. Seats for Union Township’s three-member board saw all four candidates finish within 3 percentage points of one another.
“The Election Board wants us to 100% make sure that that is the difference between the totals for the counts on that particular office, because if there is something that happens with the recount, then it’s out of our control at that point,” Douglas said. “So we definitely wanted to make sure everything was in order, everything’s ready to go, everything’s identified and labeled. That was a lot of what we were trying to do.”
The races saw the seat of trustee go to Sally Evans Molin, who garnered 930 votes, or 53.2% of the 1,748 Montgomery County residents who voted in the race. Challenger Carolyn Rivers took home 818 votes, or 46.8%. Molin will go into the General Election this fall unopposed unless a Democratic or Independent candidate files for their party’s nomination by June 30.
For the township’s board, the three incumbents will maintain their seats — Stacey Guard (1,259 votes or 26.84%), Alan Plunkett (1,246 or 26.56%) and Dennis Hohlbein (1,102 or 23.49%). They were challenged by newcomer Mark Davidson, who finished fourth with 1,084, or 23.11% of the vote.
Davidson finished just 18 votes shy of Hohlbein, prompting the required recount.
“The Election Board wanted us to make sure, and so that’s what we have to do, and that’s our job,” Douglas said. “A lot of it is just because it was a very close race and we want to make sure that we have an accurate figure to give out to everybody.”
Of the 25,503 registered voters in Montgomery County, only 3,344 voted Tuesday in person (or by mail-in absentee ballots throughout April). The figure falls woefully short of the 2018 and 2020 primaries, which saw turnouts of 22.39% and 29.59%, respectively.
A whopping 91.09% of the county’s eligible voters voted Republican at 3,046 votes, compared to the Democrats who gathered up 8.91%, or 298 votes.
Early voters between April 5 and May 3 accounted for 4.53% of the overall tally.
Douglas had said in the days leading up to the primary that a lack of contested races may yield low turnout, which may have played a role in the photo finish of a handful of races Tuesday.
“Normally, especially in this midterm year, usually sheriff is up, commissioner district 2 is up, we may have the [council’s four] district-specific offices up — but sheriff and commissioner are not contested, and out of the four districts, only one is contested for the primary,” she said May 1.
However, there is still time for candidates to file for the General Election Nov. 8. Though a host of Republicans are set to run with their party’s blessing this fall, many uncontested, Democrats and Independents have until June 30 to file for candidacy.
“Anyone who’s interested in running as an Independent candidate, give us a call,” Douglas said.
“If there wasn’t a candidate that was filed, you can go to the party chair and ask to be slated to have them basically slate you to be on the ballot for the fall,” she added.
Other contested races included that for county auditor, currently held by outgoing Auditor Jennifer Andel. Her seat was sought by Republicans Mindy Byers and Jennifer Bentley. Byers won the nomination with 1,572 votes, or 54%, compared to Bentley’s 1,339, or 46%.
Another came through the Montgomery County Council district 2 seat. Republican Matt Nelson edged Republican Greg Rutledge by 141 of 957 total votes.
The county’s four polling centers, recategorized from the original 27 precincts prior to 2016, saw 25 Republicans and two Democrats gain their party’s nominations to run in the General Election this fall.
Republican candidates earning the nod included: Darren Chadd, circuit court judge, 2,522 votes; Joseph Buser, prosecutor, 2,388; Heather Laffoon, treasurer, 2,579; Ryan Needham, sheriff, 2,718; Sherri Bentley, assessor, 2,568; Jim Fulwider, commissioner district 2, 2,504; Joyce Grimble, council district 1, 614; Steve Loy, council district 3, 588; Brett Cating, council district 4, 452; Kylene Simpson, Brown Township trustee, 151; Richard Graham (124), Jack Reynolds (145) and Paul Surface (155), Brown Township board; Amy Cating, Clark Township trustee, 98; Layton Malone (70) and David Orwig (101), Clark Township board; Roger Kunkel, Coal Creek Township trustee, 132; Mike Claycomb (90), Kevin McCord (109) and Dennis Olin (102), Coal Creek Township board; Jayne Lough, Franklin Township trustee, 88; Greg Fuller, Madison Township trustee, 74; Gary Blankenship (74), William Fugate (63) and Rob King (67), Madison Township board; Peggy Whitacre, Sugar Creek Township trustee, 40; Deborah Lough, Sugar Creek Township board, 41; Tammy Williams, Walnut Township trustee, 98; Will Crook (79), Michelle Kinkead (89) and Michael Woods (83, Walnut Township board; Randy Perigo (100); and Melvin Vance (115), Wayne Township board.
Democratic candidates moving onto the fall included: Lindsey Hamilton, council district 3, 76 votes, and N. Kathy Ryker, Wayne Township trustee, 7. Hamilton will face Loy in the fall for the county council seat while Ryker runs unopposed unless a Republican or Independent files for candidacy by June 30.
Republican state delegate winners from Tuesday moving on to the General Election include Todd Barton (2,026 votes), Phil Boots (1,900), Fulwider (1,889), Bob Cox (1,749), Bentley (1,675), Dan Guard (1,577), Molin (1,380), Aaron Morgan (1,364), Loy (1,343), Douglas (1,328), Scott Molin (1,301), John Frey (1,207) and Hohlbein (1,148).
