Leatherman, Farmer election winners

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

Jill Leatherman will likely continue as Van Wert Municipal Court judge and Don Farmer will return to his old job as Van Wert’s mayor in January following unofficial results of Tuesday’s Republican primary election.

Leatherman won 1,608 (54.1 percent) to 1,365 (45.9 percent) over local attorney Todd Wolfrum following a contest where both candidates worked extremely hard on their campaigns. Both Leatherman and Wolfrum had extensive campaign websites and also spent fairly heavily on campaign ads.

The current Van Wert Municipal Court judge, who was appointed last year by then-governor Ted Strickland, won in all 15 Van Wert precincts, as well as the villages of Ohio City, Convoy and Willshire, while Wolfrum was particularly strong in the eastern portion of the county, especially in the Lincolnview school district where he grew up and his parents were teachers (click here for a precinct-by-precinct table for the contest).

The candidates basically tied in the five Delphos city precincts located in Van Wert County, with each winning two by narrow margins and tying in the fifth.

Leatherman said she was pleased with the results of the election and is looking forward to serving her first official six-year term as Municipal Court judge.

“It is my extreme honor and pleasure to receive the Republican nomination as the Van Wert Municipal Court judge,” Leatherman said. “I wish to thank all of the voters who cast their vote in this election. I am looking forward to serving this community and being a fair and impartial judge that will serve with dedication and integrity.”

Farmer dominated the three-year mayor’s race, garnering 757 votes (51 percent), to 424 (28.6 percent) for incumbent Louis Ehmer and 302 (20.4 percent) for Second Ward Councilman Kirby Kelly.

Farmer lost only two of the city’s 15 precincts, with Precinct 2C going to Kelly and Precinct 3B won by Ehmer. The former mayor did particularly well in Precincts 4C and 4D, winning those two precincts by 55 and 52 votes, respectively (click here for a precinct-by-precinct election table for the mayor’s race).

Ehmer was gracious in defeat, congratulating Farmer after learning the results of the election.

“The voters decided who to vote for, the voters made the decision,” the current mayor said. “I’ll do what I can to support people, whatever it takes, and go from there; there’s a lot of good things going on in Van Wert and we’ll be a big part of it.”

Farmer said he was just happy to win his way back to the mayor’s position. “After four years, I’m elated to be back,” he noted. “I felt four years ago we had many things going for Van Wert and I would hope to restore that here.”

The Republican nominee added that, with the city still hurting for jobs, he would do whatever he could to change that. “My main thrust will be whatever I can do to make positive moves to create jobs here in the city of Van Wert,” Farmer said. “I don’t care whether it takes going down to Columbus, whether it takes going, wherever, to pursue that.”

He added that he was pleased with some of the economic development moves in Columbus by Governor John Kasich, especially the privatizing of the Ohio Department of Development, an agency he said was tough to work with.

“I think the people of Van Wert are expecting things of Van Wert and I hope that we can bring this together, not just as mayor but as an organization working together, both the administration, Council and everyone involved.”

Farmer said that, despite all the “buzz” about Generation Y, he said he feels Van Wert is made up of many generations, all of which need to work together to make the city grow and prosper.

Two City Council races were also decided on Tuesday. Winning the Republican nomination for the Second Ward Council seat was current Councilman At-Large Joi Mergy, who defeated political newcomer Ian Miller 176-117.

Two first-time candidates also sought the Republican nomination for the Fourth Ward Council seat, with Pete Weir winning 300-203 over Bob Hughes.

While there are no Democrat candidates for Municipal Court judge or mayor, there are some races that will take place in November. Democrat Jeff Agler will be seeking one of three at-large City Council seats against Republican challengers Stan Agler, Brent Crone and Paul Hamrick.

There will also be a race for Van Wert law director, with incumbent Greg Unterbrink, a Democrat, facing off against Republican John Hatcher.