Election Day facts and figures

VW independent staff

The May 5 primary election is nearly in the books. It’s not 100 percent finished because provisional ballots need to be counted in counties around Ohio and results must be certified by each county board of elections.

As expected, voter turnout was relatively low, but some races did attract a good number of voters.

Local turnout

There are 19,869 registered voters in Van Wert County and 4,946 cast ballots (24.89 percent). While early voting is popular, the majority of voters cast their ballots on Election Day. Figures from the Van Wert County Board of Elections show 2,927 voters showed up at the polls on Election Day. 1,808 voted early in-person and 211 returned ballots by mail.

Statewide turnout

Ohio has 7,896,681 registered voters and 1,781,296 cast ballots (22.56 percent), perhaps a bit lower than expected.

High and low

Coshocton County had the highest voter turnout in the state, 29.10 percent. Lawrence County had the lowest turnout, 16.66 percent.

Judge race

In the race for Van Wert County Juvenile/Probate Court Judge, Eva Yarger and Todd Wolfrum both ran clean campaigns, which is fairly uncommon in this day and age. Both went door to door and both had a number of campaign signs around the county.

As expected, the race was close, with Yarger winning by 182 votes. What made the race especially interesting was the fact that Wolfrum was the choice of the Van Wert County Republican Central Committee to replace retired Judge Kevin H. Taylor, but Yarger was the choice of Governor Mike DeWine, who had the final say on her appointment following Judge Taylor’s retirement. Her appointment was for the remainder of the term, which ends next February. Tuesday’s win means she’ll begin a full six year term when she takes the oath of office early next year.

Wolfrum will continue as a county commissioner.

Auditor race

Another quiet race between the candidates was for Van Wert County Auditor. In her first run at a public office, challenger Arica Wermer defeated incumbent Jami Bradford 2,437-1582, a margin of roughly 61-39 percent. Wermer will be unopposed in November.

Ohio Senate race

The race for Ohio’s 1st District Senate seat was believed to be the most watched race in the state. Current Senator Rob McColley was unable to seek re-election due to term limits, opening the door in the strong Republican district that is comprised of Defiance, Hancock, Hardin, Henry, Fulton, Paulding, Putnam, Van Wert and Williams counties, and part of Logan County.

The GOP race featured Jim Hoops, a current state representative from Napoleon who couldn’t run to retain his seek because of term limits, and former State Representative Craig Reidel. Both men campaigned hard since last year and it was believed the race could be close. Reidel won the race by 856 votes, a slim margin given the size of the district.

Here is the breakdown by county:

• Defiance: Riedel 2,267; Hoops 1,913
• Fulton: Hoops 2,664; Riedel 2,084
• Hancock: Riedel 4,781; Hoops 3,442
• Hardin: Riedel 1,813; Hoops 1,047
• Henry: Hoops 2,722; Riedel 751
• Paulding: Hoops 1,300; Riedel 1,186
• Putnam: Riedel 3,430; Hoops 3,393
• Van Wert: 2,561; Hoops 1,475
• Williams: Hoops 2,718; Riedel 2,087
• Logan: Riedel 1,205; Hoops 635

Each man won five counties and as expected, both fared very well in their respective home counties (Riedel in Defiance County, Hoops in Henry County). However, Riedel scored sizable wins in Hancock, Hardin and Van Wert counties, which proved to be too much for Hoops to overcome.

Even though Tuesday’s election was a primary election, Riedel is guaranteed to take the seat in January because he has no opposition in November. No independent candidates filed and while write-ins have until August to declare, that would be a long road.