Gelb is the only candidate as of Wednesday to be certified to be on the March 19 primary ballot.
Congressman Warren Davidson will face former Butler County auditor Kay Rogers, who pled guilty to federal bank and mail fraud. She was certified this week by the Butler County Board of Elections as a candidate seeking the GOP nomination for the 8th Congressional District. Davidson was also certified this week.
Though a felony conviction can prevent candidates from running for state office in Ohio, it does not preclude anyone from running for Congress or president.
Every Butler County voter will have a choice for their Statehouse and Senate representatives in Columbus this election cycle. Every two years, the Ohio House is up for election, and this year’s election coincides with the Senate’s two districts that represent Butler County.
4th Ohio Senate District
Democrat Thomas Cooke, of Oxford, will be the party’s nominee in November, pending certification of his petitions, and will face either incumbent Sen. George Lang, of West Chester Twp., Mark Morgan, of Middletown, or former state representative Candice Keller, of Middletown.
Lang is seeking his second four-year term and bested Keller and West Chester Twp. Trustee Lee Wong in the 2020 primary election.
40th State House District
The 40th Statehouse District incorporates Milford and Wayne townships, and Trenton, which is represented by Rep. Rodney Creech, a Republican from West Alexandria. Creech will be challenged by fellow West Alexandria resident Bobbie Arnold.
Neither have primary opponents.
The 40th district also includes Preble County and parts of the Miami Valley region.
45th State House District
Incumbent Rep. Jennifer Gross is uncontested in the primary but will face, pending certification of petitions, Democrat Landon Meador, of West Chester Twp.
46th State House District
Incumbent Rep. Thomas Hall, of Madison Twp., will face a challenge for a seat in the Statehouse. Monroe resident Zachary Stacy, pending certification of his petitions, is challenging the two-term Republican House member. The winner of the GOP primary will face Democrat Benjamin McCall, of Liberty Twp., in November, pending certification of his petitions.
47th State House District
Vanessa Cummings, of Oxford, will be the Democrat Party’s nominee against the Republican candidate. Incumbent Rep. Sara Carruthers, of Hamilton, is being challenged by Diane Mullins, of Hanover Twp. Mullins is the Butler County GOP’s endorsed candidate, though Carruthers did not seek that endorsement. This is Mullins’ second time running for a statehouse seat while Carruthers is seeking her fourth two-year term.
County Commission
No Republican will be challenged in the primary, and all but two will not face a general election challenger, unless an independent or write-in candidate files by 4 p.m. Jan. 8 or 4 p.m. March 18, respectively.
Each Butler County Commission seat has its own term, so incumbent Commissioner Don Dixon, a Republican from Fairfield Twp., is facing Oxford Council member Changel Raghu, who was re-elected to a second term in 2021.
“Butler County needs new energy and fresh ideas to reinvest in this county,” Raghu said. “We have so many great people that live here and are trying to do great things. Our county should be working synergistically with all of the townships, villages, and cities to make Butler County the place everyone wants to live and work in.”
Dixion has served on the county commission since 2007, and previously served one term in the early 1980s.
“It’s a right that everyone has and gives everybody the opportunity to have a choice, but I’m very confident. I’ll stand behind Butler Couty’s record and let the people decide who they think can keep it running as well as it is,” said Dixon, highlighting the county’s $150 million surplus and low sales tax rate.
County Commission President T.C. Rogers, of Liberty Twp., will face in November Democrat Tamara Small, of West Chester Twp. Rogers has been serving on the commission since 2013 and currently works for Coldwell Banker. He’s active with the OKI Regional Council of Governments and several county agencies, including the Butler County Port Authority, the Metropolitan Housing Authority and the Land Reutilization Bank Committee.
Small works as a nurse practitioner in the University of Cincinnati’s Cancer Survivorship Program, and is a faculty member at UC’s College of Medicine and assistant professor for Rio Grande’s graduate nursing program. She also owns The Institute for Employee Safety, which provides consulting and training on workplace violence prevention to healthcare workers and mental health first-aid training.
12th District Court of Appeals
The district appeals court based in Middletown will see Barbara Carter go up against Republican Melena Siebert, of West Chester Twp. in the Republican primary. The 12th District includes Brown, Butler, Clermont, Clinton, Fayette, Madison, Preble and Warren counties.
Pocketbook issues and local options
Voters in Liberty Twp. and Fairfield city and township will see tax issues on their ballots.
Liberty Twp. is asking voters to approve a renewal and increase in its police levy. Trustees approved a 3-mill renewal with a 0.3-mill increase, which will raise just under $3.56 million annually.
How much it will cost a homeowner is not known based on 2023 data. Butler County Auditor Nancy Nix said the county has not received the 2023 rates yet from the state, so based on 2022 data, it’s estimated the owner of a $100,000 home will be $89 a year. Nix said the cost is expected to be lower once 2023 rates can be used, which could be as early as next week.
Fairfield City School District is asking voters to approve its 6.9-mill continuing operating levy, which will generate just under $16 million a year, and cost the owner of a $100,000 around $242 annually.
The levy will help address a projected $11 million budget deficit.
School district officials publicly discussed a possible levy last year when seeing the projected operating budget deficit, which was exacerbated by the phase-out of COVID-19 federal funding and higher inflation costs.
Fairfield Superintendant Billy Smith said if the levy passes, the district will be able to maintain current programs and services through June 2029.
Aggregation
Two more communities in Butler County are asking voters to approve electric and natural gas aggregation issues.
Trenton and Lemon Twp. are asking voters to approve the pair of measures in each community.
What aggregation measures do is allow Ohio consumers to choose their electricity generation suppliers — where their energy comes from. Under aggregation, a community entity negotiates with suppliers on behalf of eligible households, nonprofits, and small businesses to save money on bills by grouping them together.
If voters approve both natural gas and electric aggregation, each community will be able to shop and aggregate the two utilities on the open market in hopes of getting the best rate for customers.
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