MOUNT VERNON — In a rare August primary election – with no candidates running for local offices – nearly 12% of registered voters in Knox County cast a ballot Tuesday, representing a higher turnout than six of the county’s seven neighbors.
Knox County saw a 11.61% voter turnout on Tuesday, according to final, unofficial results from the Knox County Board of Elections. This outpaced Delaware County (10.90%), Licking County (9.75%), Holmes County (8.84%), Coshocton County (8.61%), Morrow County (8.58%) and Richland County (5.48%).
Only Ashland County (14.80%) saw a higher turnout in north central Ohio.
Knox County Board of Elections Director Peggy Hockenberry said Wednesday she wasn’t surprised by Tuesday’s turnout in Knox County, despite the circumstances.
This was a special election prompted by redistricting issues at the state level, and it included new voting districts that effectively split Knox County in half, with the west side voting as a part of House District 61 and the east side voting as a part of House District 98.
Leaders from Knox County’s Democratic and Republican parties called the situation “inconvenient and confusing” in the weeks leading up to the election, and predicted low voter turnout (somewhere around 5%) as a result.
But Hockenberry said her team predicted it would be somewhere closer to 10%, given how Knox County has voted in previous August special elections. Even though there were no local offices up for grabs – Tuesday’s election served as a primary for state House, Senate and Central Committee races – Hockenberry figured the voters would show up.
And they did.
“We kind of anticipated around 10%,” Hockenberry said Wednesday. “We tried to make sure everybody was aware of the election – we shared information with the media, we put it on Facebook, and we just shared it as much as we could.”
Hockenberry acknowledged “the circumstances around this election” made it confusing to many Knox County voters. But she said her team put in extra effort to communicate with the public, answering questions from voters and sharing information in an attempt to clarify the situation.
“We got a lot of questions as to what’s going on, what election is this?” Hockenberry recalled. “So we did answer and troubleshoot a lot of those calls and explain what it’s about.”
Hockenberry noted that Knox County’s turnout Tuesday – while high regionally, and slightly higher than predicted based on past special elections – pales in comparison to that of a typical general or primary election.
The county saw a 22.93% turnout in last November’s general election, and a 23.46% turnout in the primary election this May (both elections included local issues and races).
Still, she believes the special election went smoothly. After dealing with voter confusion, the challenge of recruiting poll workers in the summertime, and other unique issues leading up to Tuesday, Hockenberry seemed pleased with the end result.
“We knew it was gonna be a lower turnout, just because it’s been several years since we’ve even had an August election, and it did surprise a lot of people. …” Hockenberry said.
“(But) it was a nice, sunny day, and we had no power outages. It ran smooth.”
How Knox County voted
Knox County voters helped decide 10 state-level races on Tuesday. Here’s how they voted:
STATE CENTRAL COMMITTEES – 19TH DISTRICT
On the Democratic side, Knox County voters favored Joydeep Gupta over John K. Hartman for a seat on the Democratic State Central Committee, as the man representing the 19th District. Gupta won by a margin of 514 votes to 357.
Mary C. Rugola-Dye ran unopposed for the right to serve as the 19th District’s female representative, and she garnered 855 votes Tuesday.
On the Republican side, Knox County voters favored Fred L. Dailey over three other candidates for a seat on the Republican State Central Committee, as the man representing the 19th District. Dailey tallied 1,596 votes Tuesday, surpassing opponents Gary James (1,313); Jack Etheridge (643); and Robin C. Hovis (237).
Knox County Republicans favored Melanie Leneghan in the race for the 19th District’s female representative. She earned 1,885 votes Tuesday, outlasting opponents Carol O’Brien (1,009); Nicole Justice (308); Kelly O’Brien (279); and Andrea Dalton (236).
OHIO SENATE – 19TH DISTRICT
Knox County Democrats favored Heather M. Swiger over Chrissie Hinshaw, 583 votes to 292, in the race for 19th District representative. Swiger won the statewide race as well (including votes from Holmes, Coshocton, Knox and Delaware counties).
She will face off in November against Andrew O. Brenner, who ran unopposed for the Republican bid in the race for 19th District representative. He tallied 3,317 votes in Knox County on Tuesday.
OHIO HOUSE – 61ST DISTRICT
Louise Valentine ran unopposed for the Democratic bid in the race for 61st District state representative (which includes the western half of Knox County and the eastern half of Delaware County). She garnered 270 votes in Knox County on Tuesday.
Valentine will square off this fall against Beth Lear, who defeated Shawn Stevens in the race for the Republican bid. Lear won handily in Knox County on Tuesday, tallying 1,019 votes to Stevens’ 629.
OHIO HOUSE – 98TH DISTRICT
Darrell D. Kick won the Republican bid in the race for 98th District state representative (which includes the eastern half of Knox County, Holmes County and Coshocton County), defeating challenger Scott Pullins. Kick garnered 1,122 votes in Knox County on Tuesday to Pullins’ 1,116.
No Democratic candidates filed to run for their party’s bid in the race. Pending write-in candidates, Kick will run unopposed in November.
