Republicans and Democrat candidates appeared on ballots throughout the Northern Panhandle and several of them were unopposed during primary voting.
But the totals counted in House districts 4, 5, 6, and 7, as well as in the race for a seat on the Ohio Commission, the number of votes each collected allow for comparisons between the candidates representing both political parties.
“The primary numbers do tell certain stories. At least I always thought so when I was unopposed on the Democrat side of the ticket,” said Jack Cera, a former Ohio lawmaker who was in office from 1983-1996 and then again from 2011-2020. “Now, I never thought because one candidate had more votes than the other that it was a done race. Sometimes that’s how it works out, but certainly not every time.
“Now, the numbers from the primary might mean one candidate needs to work more than they expected if their vote total didn’t turn out to be what they hoped,” he said. “I know I looked at them and I don’t remember ever getting too worried or getting too much confidence, but when I was in the Ohio House, the Democrat Party was the big one throughout the valley. That’s not true anymore.”
The House Races:
- District 4
- Democrat – Teresa Torisva – 991
- Republican – Erikka Storch – 2,031
- District 5
- Democrat – Shawn Fluharty – 1,192
- Republican – Brooke McArdle – 1,034
- District 6
- Democrat – Reva Yost – 1,106
- Republican – Charlie Reynolds – 1,515
- District 7
- Democrat – Lisa Zukoff – 982
- Republican – Charles Sheedy – 1,112
Ohio County Commission:
* Democrat – Randy Wharton – 2,480
Republican – Dave Palmer – 3,206
Independents for the Win
There are more statistics to study, Cera insisted, and that involves the number of registered voters in each county or district.
“For a lot of years, this valley was about Democrats because it was the Democrat Party that fought for the steelworkers and the coal miners and everyone else working in industry,” he explained. “I remember a lot of years it was really difficult to win as a Republican and it’s the exact opposite now on both side of the Ohio River.
“When all of those coal mines in West Virginia were thriving, and steel was strong up here, the Democrats controlled the Legislature for what, more than 80 years? And now the Republicans have had a supermajority that last couple of years and struggle to be heard? It’s taken place over the last 20 years, and it’s connected to the economy.”
According to the elections department of the Ohio County Commission, in House Districts 3, 4, and 5, there is a total of 9,984 Republicans, 9,542 Democrats, and 7,117 voters not affiliated with either of the political parties.
“If I am running in one of those districts,” Cera said, “I’m not paying attention to the margins between the Republicans and Democrats. Instead, I’m paying attention to all of those Independents who have made the choice not be a Republican or Democrat for whatever reasons. Those are the votes you want to get in November.
“When I first took office in the early 1983, people were one or the other, Democrat or Republican, but we have more people who just don’t want to be one or the other. They want to vote for the best candidate for the job, period,” the former state lawmaker added. “That’s what candidates and incumbents have to prove these days in order to win.”
