From Chairman Matt Dole…
Good morning!
Last night was a very good night for Licking County.
Unofficial results show Congressman Troy Balderson earning 59 percent of the vote here.
State Representative Kevin Miller won a resounding 70 percent of the vote.
State Representative Thad Claggett was re-elected with 52 percent of the vote
Commissioner-Elect Mark Van Buren won with 59 percent of the vote.
Judge Richard Wright was re-elected with 64 percent of the vote.
Judge Deborah Lang returned to the bench with 55 percent of the vote.
We also returned Judge Tom Marcelain and Auditor Michael Smith to office unopposed, and elected our own Judge Matt George to the 5th District Court of Appeals.
Finally, Issue 3, which enshrines voter ID in our state Constitution, passed in Licking County with 70 percent of the vote, outpacing the 65 percent it earned statewide.
We also did our part helping elect Frank LaRose as Ohio's next Auditor with 60 percent of the vote here.
That's the good news.
Now, statewide and nationally, the results were tsunami-esque. Democrats will try to spin the election a million ways in their direction. They'll talk of Ohio being purple, or even blue. They'll try to make it seem like they're a permanent force in Ohio politics.
Don't buy the hype.
There's an election in 363 days. We'll elect mayors, council members, township trustees, fiscal officers, and school board members across Licking County. There will also be a special election for Municipal Court.
There's also an election in 734 days. For President. Democrats in Ohio and across the country won a lot of seats that skew right, and they'll have to defend them. And we're going to work like hell here in Licking County to give them all the votes here that they need.
So thank you for supporting the Licking County Republican slate. Get some rest, because we have a lot more work to do!