HAMILTON — Cindy Carpenter may have won the GOP’s nomination in the race for Butler County commission Tuesday, May 4, but the majority of Republicans voted against her.

Now the question is whether the 66 percent of local Republicans who voted for one of the other five candidates will now turn around and back her in November.

Ousted incumbent Commission President Gregory Jolivette, who received the second-most votes, said he will.

“Of course, I’m a Republican,” he said Thursday, May 6.

Shawn McCabe, a veteran of several recent campaigns, said the race was divisive, pushing local Republicans apart on the grounds of geography, policy and personal allegiance.

“The factions are going to remain,” he said. “But I think the candidates involved, they are going to show a public front of unity.”

This is important, he said. “The party realizes how fragmented we are to the public. This is a capstone to that.”

With six people in the primary, Carpenter said she’s not surprised the winner didn’t take a majority.

“You have a six-way race, you’re going to divide the votes,” she said. “I feel like the percentage that I won was extraordinary considering there were five other candidates in the race.”

A JournalNews analysis of voting patterns found county voters were divided along geographic boundaries for their candidates of choice. And not every candidate, including Carpenter, carried his or her hometown.