Incumbent Jeff LaRe beats Mike Tussey in Ohio House 73rd Republican primary election

LANCASTER − Incumbent Ohio House 73rd District Rep. Jeff LaRe, R-Violet Township, defeated former Baltimore Police Chief Mike Tussey Tuesday to advance to the November general election.

LaRe had 6,001 (55.17%) to Tussey's 4,876 (44.83%) votes.

Michael Scarmack ran as a write-in candidate on the Democratic ballot. He will move to the November general election since he received at least 50 write-in votes to face LaRe. Scarmack earned 211 write-in votes.

LaRe, 48, lives in Violet Township and is a security contractor. He was a Fairfield County deputy sheriff in the 1990s. LaRe was appointed to his current position in 2019.

"I'm thankful that I've got the trust and support of Fairfield County voters," he said. "And that we didn't get hoodwinked into out-of-state interests trying to buy our elections."

LaRe said he is a true conservative with a proven track record whether cutting taxes or protecting communities.

"It really just comes down to facts are facts," he said. "And whether people are putting false information out there in the community, my record is open to the public."

Tussey, a 66-year-old Baltimore resident, was a police officer for 46 years before retiring on Jan. 22. He has been a member of the Fairfield County Republican Party Central Committee for about 12 years and lost to current Fairfield County Sheriff Alex Lape in the April 2020 sheriff's primary race.

Tussey ran on a conservative agenda that was pro-Second Amendment and one that opposed abortion, among other conservative principles.

Tussey said his campaign ran a good, hard race and that he's proud of the way the campaign conducted itself.

"The reason we have elections is because the voters will make a decision," he said. "They've done that, and certainly accept the outcome and the decision of the voters."

Tussey said he didn't know why voters chose LaRe over him.

"My thought is that a lot of people go with familiarity," he said. "A lot of people when they walk into a polling place they really look for a name that have heard. And even though they may know nothing about that name they'll pull the lever for that person."

Tussey said he know beating an incumbent would be tough, but that he wanted to send a message and said he did that.

"You look at the number of votes that were cast and, clearly, we touched a nerve with a lot of people," he said. "I'm disappointed that we're not going to be able to get some things done, but I fully respect our election process that we have and we'll simply move on from here."

End Abortion Ohio President Austin Beigel was originally on the Republican ballot. But he dropped out and gave his support to Tussey.

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This article originally appeared on Lancaster Eagle-Gazette: Incumbent Jeff LaRe beats Mike Tussey in House 73rd Republican primary