Klein. Brown. Stinziano. Hardin. Page. The Democratic slate of City Council Candidates restated their last names many times over during campaign events this year, and the tactic seems to have worked. Columbus voters took to the ballots today to elect all five of the Democratic candidates into office.
“Tonight, this is about validation,” said incumbent City Councilmember Zach Klein. “The voters of the city of Columbus recognize that we have a very special place here. That doesn’t mean we’re not without our problems, but the cooperative, collaborative spirit that Mike Coleman set before us, allows us to tackle those problems.”
Klein lead the group running in the eight-way open race with 18 percent of the vote. Brown, Stinziano and Page followed close behind with 18, 17 and 15 percent of the vote, respectively. Republican candidate Dimitrious Stanley was the closest challenger behind the pack, with 13 percent of the vote, while John Rush, Besmira Sharrah and Ibrahima Sow trailed with nine, five and five percents, respectively. Hardin won his head-to-head race against Republican Ashley Wnek by a 42 point margin, capturing 71 percent of the vote. All numbers reflect 99 percent of precincts reporting at the time of publishing.
“I think it’s an exciting night for our entire team,” said Stinziano. “I think we all worked really hard, and it’s exciting to get over the finish line together.”
While losing out in the election process tonight, Rush told Columbus Underground that he was not upset about the results.
“There’s a number of ways to look at winning, and for me, part of the win is the fact that more people are aware of the issues related to reentry, human trafficking and homelessness — so for me that’s a great win,” he said. “It’s all about bipartisanship and working together to address our greatest social needs.”
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