The unofficial election results are in from the Franklin County Board of Elections, revealing the winners of races for Columbus City Council, School Board, Municipal Court Judge, and City Auditor and Attorney, as well as decisions on Issue 1 for victims rights, Issue 2 for prescription drug prices, and the tax levy for the Franklin County Board of Developmental Disabilities.
Voters came out in full support of Columbus City Council incumbents Priscilla Tyson, Shannon Hardin and Mitchell Brown, who won the race with 24 percent, 23 percent and 21 percent of the vote, respectively. The three were up against two progressive Democrats from Yes We Can: Columbus Working Families, Jasmine Ayres and Will Petrik, as well as Republican candidate Kieran Cartharn.
Ayres followed Brown with 12 percent of the vote, with Petrik and Cartharn earning another 10 percent and nine percent of the vote, respectively.
Similarly, all three incumbent Columbus City Schools Board of Education members were re-elected. Ramona Reyes took the lead with just over 20 percent of the vote, with Michael Cole taking 19.8 percent and Dominic Paretti taking 18.4 percent. Challengers Erin Upchurch, Amy Harkins and Abby Vaile received 16, 14 and 12 percent, respectively.
In the Klein vs. Kline race for City Attorney, City Council President Zack Klein won an overwhelming majority of the vote, beating local lawyer Don Kline 72 to 28 percent. And in the race for City Auditor, Megan Kilgore claimed victory over contender Bob Mealy, taking 77 percent of the vote.
For Municipal Court Judge, Franklin County Voters selected Andrea Peeples (65 percent), Cindi Morehart (59 percent), Jarrod Skinner (60 percent) and Jodi Thomas (50 percent).
A total of 81 percent of voters approved Issue 1, the Crime Victim Rights Initiative, which will repeal a section of the Ohio Constitution addressing the rights of crime victims and replace it with Marsy’s Law, guaranteeing crime victims “the right to be treated with respect, fairness and dignity throughout the criminal justice process” and “the right to information about the rights and services available to crime victims.”
Issue 2, the Drug Price Relief Act, went down at the voting polls, with 76 percent of voters voting “No.” The measure would have required state agencies to pay the same or less for prescription drugs as the federal Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), who typically ends up paying 20 to 24 percent less than any other agency for the same drugs. The contentious issue raised questions about the implications for those with private insurance buying prescription drugs.
Issue 4 passed with 81 percent of the vote, giving the go-ahead for the tax levy renewal for the Franklin County Board of Developmental Disabilities. The levy is for 3.5 mil over a 10-year time period.
All results are unofficial, and this article will be updated as the numbers continue to be updated.
To view the results, visit vote.franklincountyohio.gov.
NOTE — All results last updated at 12:15AM EST on 11/8 with 100% of precincts reporting.