Here are election results from counties across the Whitewater Valley:
MAYOR: Richmond Mayor Dave Snow will hold that title for four more years. Snow beat Republican Challenger Jamie Lopeman by 192 votes out of 4000 that were cast. Independent Thomas Owens was a distant thirdy.
COUNCIL: There will four new faces on Richmond Common Council after Tuesday’s election. Republicans won all three contested at-large seats with Ron Oler, Jane Bumbalough, and Larry Parker coming out on top. For Parker, this will be his tenth term on Common Council. Democrat Bill Engle will be a council newcomer after defeating Samantha Bryant 55-45%. Other council seats were uncontested.
WAYNE: In some other Wayne County races, Karen Chasteen easily won four more years as Richmond City Clerk. Chasteen got more than twice as many votes as her two challengers combined. The five winners for Dublin Town Council were Bruce Moles, Rex Snyder, Patricia Finley, Larry Walters, and Pamela Chaney. And, for Milton Town Council, winners were Phillip Edwards, Ryan Coby, Robert Simon, John Noland, and Hugh Payne. Wayne County’s voter turnout was 18.5%.
PREBLE: In Preble County, two school renewal levies passed. Levies at both National Trail and Eaton passed by roughly 2-1 margins. In mayoral races, Karen Ross got 60% of the vote to win in Camden. In Gratis, Benjamin Roles will be mayor after having won by just 27 votes. And, in West Alexandria, Dan Utsinger came out on top by a 71-29% margin. Most other tax issues also passed, including for the city of Eaton, Preble County Library, and for the village of New Paris.
FAYETTE: Connersville will have a new mayor. Republican Challenger Chad Frank defeated incumbent Harold Gordon by a 56-44% margin yesterday. Members of Connersville City Council will be Mike Bishop, Diana Phillips, Clarence Werner, Jennifer Barrett, Brian Robb, and Bill Gray. All six of those winners are Republicans.
UNION: Here are some results from Union County. The race for Liberty Town Council was a close one. Derek Tipton was the top vote-getter, but only by 14 votes. Derrek Jenkins was second, but only by five votes. And, Matt Barnhizer was third, but only by 18 votes. In the race for West College Corner Town Council, Emily Bourne came out on top, but only by four votes.
DARKE: Darke County had an extremely close race. In the race for Tri Village School Board, 711 votes were cast. Shane Coby beat Tim Bevins by just one vote – 356-355. It was also extremely close in the race for Arcanum Council. With 615 ballots cast, Jacob Banks won by just nine votes. Most tax levies in Darke County easily passed. That includes in both New Madison and Greenville.