WASHINGTON TWP., Montgomery County — Dayton Tea Party founder and current Kettering City Councilman Rob Scott is the new chairman of the Montgomery County Republican Party.

More than 160 precinct-level leaders unanimously elected Scott on Wednesday night. Scott, in turn, immediately called on those county Central Committee leaders to hit the ground running “in the most critical election year of our lives.”

Scott, a 30-year-old attorney, said President Obama’s campaign is “alive and well” in Montgomery County, and said Republicans need to “get to work to deliver the county” for Mitt Romney, U.S. Senate candidate Josh Mandel and countywide candidates.

Republican State Central Committee member Pat Flanagan, a Dayton attorney, thanked outgoing county chairman Greg Gantt for more than five years of service, saying Gantt “helped the party tremendously.”

Gantt, also an attorney, said he’ll remain a precinct captain and a member of the county board of elections. He said he’s been working with Republican leaders in Columbus and may take a new role next month. Central Committee member Darren Cooper said he and some others wanted Gantt to run for chairman again.

“It has put such a strain on my family that I had to put them first,” Gantt said. “The fact that I’ll continue to do things in politics makes it much easier (to step down).”

While Republicans swept statewide offices in 2010, led by Gov. John Kasich, the Montgomery County picture is very different. All three county commissioners are Democrats, as are six of the eight countywide elected officials. Five of those nine Democrats will face Republican challengers in November.