Primary 2024: Area school levies failing, Favor wins Dem race for Franklin County prosecutor

Polls are now closed in Ohio, although those who got in line before 7:30 p.m. will be allowed to vote on a host of political primary races and ballot issues on everything from municipal taxes to school construction.

This blog will be updated throughout the evening as results begin to come in. To report any issues at polling places, send an email to newsroom@dispatch.com.

Favor wins Democratic primary for Franklin County prosecutor

With 100% of the precincts reporting in Franklin County, Columbus City Councilwoman Shayla Favor has won the Democratic primary for county prosecutor, according to unofficial results. Favor had 41% of the votes compared to 35% for Anthony Pierson and 24% for Natalia Harris.

Favor will face unopposed Republican John Rutan in the Nov. 5 general election.

Olentangy, Heath and Fairbanks school levies headed to defeat

Voters across central Ohio appeared in no mood to support local school levies on Tuesday with numerous districts seeing strong opposition to their tax increase efforts.

In Licking County, the Heath City Schools levy lost 61.5% to 38.5%, according to final unofficial results.

With 79 of 83 precincts reporting, Olentangy Local Schools levy is losing by more than 6,000 votes out of 23,000 cast - surely too steep a deficit.

The Fairbanks Local School District in Union and Madison counties appears on track to lose an income tax and property tax effort. The issue was failing with 55.29% voting against it, according to final unofficial results in Union County. Results from Madison County, however, have not yet been reported.

Taylor, Wilson, Miller win Congressional primaries

David Taylor, Tamie Wilson and Adam Miller are the unofficial winners of the 2nd, 4th and 15th Ohio Congressional District primary races in central Ohio counties, respectively, according to the Associated Press. Democrats Wilson and Miller will be underdogs against Republican incumbents this fall.

Taylor will face an unopposed Democrat, Samantha Meadows, with the advantage of a Republic-majority 2nd District in November.

In the 4th Congressional District, Wilson was beating fellow Democrat Steve Thomas, 69, of Powell, by 70% to 30% with 31% of precincts reporting, according to the Ohio Secretary of State's website. Wilson will go on to challenge incumbent Republican Jim Jordan in November.

In the 15th Congressional District, Miller was beating his Democratic challenger Zerqa Abid by 70% to 30% with 29% of precincts reporting. Miller will go on to face unopposed incumbent Republican Mike Carey in November.

Olentangy schools levy trailing badly

Voters in Delaware County appear to be telling their local school district to slow down on its growth plans. With 69% of precincts reported, the Olentangy Local Schools levy is losing 63.5% to 36.5%, or nearly 5,000 votes. The levy was intended to help the growing school district construct a fifth high school, among other buildings.

Pierson, Favor battle for prosecutor nomination

With 362 of 888 precincts reported, the Democratic race for Franklin County prosecutor remains fairly close, although Shayla Favor's lead has been growing for the past hour. Favor leads with nearly 40% of the vote compared to almost 37% for Anthony Pierson. Roughly 1,200 votes separate the two.

Natalia Harris remains in third with 23.4% of the vote.

Associated Press calls GOP Senate race for Moreno

Bernie Moreno will face Sen. Sherrod Brown this fall after winning Ohio’s combative Republican U.S. Senate primary on Tuesday.

The Associated Press called the race for Moreno, a businessman from the Cleveland area, at 8:40 p.m. He defeated Secretary of State Frank LaRose and state Sen. Matt Dolan, R-Chagrin Falls, in a contest that pitted the GOP’s old guard against allies of former President Donald Trump.

Absentee results favor Dolan for Senate, Pierson for prosecutor

Early vote results posted by the Franklin County Board of Elections show Matt Dolan leading the GOP Senate primary in the county with 46% of the vote compared to 34% for Bernie Moreno and 20% for Frank LaRose. These votes are from people who voted before Tuesday in person or via absentee ballot.

Across Ohio, Moreno had 38% of nearly 82,000 votes counted by 7:52 p.m. compared with 37% for Dolan and 24% for LaRose, according to the Ohio Secretary of State's website.

In the Franklin County prosecutor Democratic primary, Anthony Pierson had 40% of the vote, Shayla Favor had 38% and Natalia Harris had 22% of the early votes posted by the county.

Brown leads Hanna for lone contested Franklin County judgeship

With just early votes counted, unofficial results show Ohio House Rep. Richard Brown, the endorsed Democrat, ahead of challenger Stephanie Hanna in the race for a seat on the bench in Franklin County Common Pleas Court.

Brown had 60% of the vote and Hanna had 40% in results of early in-person and absentee voting released a little after Ohio polls closed at 7:30 p.m.

This is the only contested judge seat out of nine available on Common Pleas Court in the March primary.

No problems in Ohio election per Secretary of State

There have been no major or systemic issues on election day so far, according to Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose.

“There'll be small things here and there, but the key to our success in Ohio is that we have well-trained poll workers, boards of elections, and a very responsive team here at the Secretary of State's office that works through those things,” he said.

There were 408,972 early and absentee ballots cast for Tuesday’s election and around 50,000 absentee ballots remain outstanding as of Sunday night, according to the secretary of state.

As for in-person voters, the secretary of state’s office has seen “steady” turnout at polling locations around the state on Tuesday.

He declined to measure this election’s turnout against previous primary elections, saying its unique conditions make it difficult to accurately compare.

“The bottom line is it's hard to make an apple to apples comparison unless you find a year where that very similar (election) profile existed,” he said.

Update: prosecutor candidate heeds calls to stop using flyer

In Franklin County, the hottest race is the Democratic primary for prosecutor. The historic race has three Black attorneys vying for the nomination to replace current Prosecutor Gary Tyack, a Democrat who is retiring. They are: Delaware City Attorney Natalia Harris, who lives in Columbus; Columbus City Council member Shayla Favor, a former assistant city attorney; and Anthony Pierson, deputy chief counsel in Tyack's office who has Tyack's support.

Pierson's campaign told the Dispatch Tuesday afternoon that it was heeding Franklin County Democratic Party Chair Michael Sexton's request to stop circulating a flyer Sexton called misleading. Pierson's campaign called the flyer "factually accurate."

Pierson's campaign said in an emailed statement:

"We have worked to remove the 'factually accurate' literature from circulation at the request of the Chairman."

Ohio primary: Franklin County prosecutor candidate decries opponent's 'misleading' flyer

Favor and the county party chair called on Pierson and his campaign Tuesday to stop passing out “misleading” flyers at the polls that look like the county party slate cards and might make voters think he’s endorsed by the county Democratic party, which he is not.

The blue flyers tell electors to “vote for Democrats recommended by the Franklin County Democratic Party screening committee."

The wording is factual as the county Democratic party’s screening committee recommended Pierson for endorsement after all three candidates submitted to screening. However, Favor points out, the larger party executive committee narrowly voted in January not to endorse Pierson or anyone in the prosecutor’s race ahead of the primary, heeding calls from the NAACP Columbus branch, Favor and others.

“Throughout this campaign, my opponent claimed to be a person of integrity and trusted by the community. To see him stoop to this level to mislead voters about having an endorsement that he does not have is disappointing,” Favor said in an emailed statement.

The Pierson campaign told The Dispatch in an emailed statement:

"The campaign put together a piece to promote our candidate and highlight the other recommended Democrats on the ballot at the same time, which is important in a low-turnout election. It is a factually accurate piece. Also, the fonts and colors are not the same, contrary to assumptions..

Pierson also said: "And it's interesting that the Favor campaign is accusing us of being misleading while at the same time stating lies about her lack of criminal prosecution experience."

Franklin County Democratic Party Chair Michael Sexton in a statement Tuesday afternoon emphasized nobody is endorsed in this race and also called on Pierson to stop using the "misleading" flyer.

"After reviewing the piece, I have found that, although it is factual, it is misleading to voters who may not know the difference between a recommendation and an endorsement. In addition, the piece was never authorized by the Franklin County Democratic Party. As Chairman, I am disappointed in this action and have asked the Pierson campaign to cease using it through the end of the Primary Election," Sexton said.

America First candidate Derek Myers accidentally concedes race early, retracts

Derek Myers, the America First candidate vying for the Republican nomination in Ohio's 2nd Congressional District, sent out a press release apparently in error on Tuesday afternoon conceding the race four hours before the polls close.

The release referenced Myers' private watch party scheduled for tonight as if it had already happened.

"Tonight did not go as we had hoped, but as we know, this race is decided in the primary," the release said, noting that Myers said this Tuesday evening "surrounded by 100 of his close friends and supporters."

Myers said in the release that he will work with the GOP candidate who wins today's primary and will work to re-elect Donald Trump as president.

About 3:30 p.m., Myers acknowledged the error on X, formerly known as Twitter.

"Attention Press: My campaign comms team has sent out an email in error as we prepare for both possible outcomes tonight," he wrote in a post. "The polls remain open until 7:30 p.m. Please disregard the email. Thank you."

In an email at 3:58 p.m. Myers wrote, ""Two emails were prepared for this evening: one declaring a victory and one conceding the race. The concession email was sent in error as it was being loaded into the media distribution portal, as a draft, in the event of a loss. Accidentally, the “send now” button we clicked instead of 'draft . . .' Whatever the results return this evening, I’ll be thankful for this journey. And yes, the media will be getting a release sometime after the results roll in, declaring a victory or concession. Thank you."

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Ohio, Franklin County election results

After the polls close, come to Dispatch.com for the results on all the U.S., state and county contested candidate races (except party committees) and on municipal and school issues across central Ohio.

Central Ohio: Election results for Franklin County and central Ohio

Ohio election: Statewide results for president, U.S. Senate and more

U.S. House of Reprsentatives Results for Ohio US House races

Ohio Senate: Results for Ohio Senate primaries

Ohio House: Results for Ohio House of Representatives primaries

Ohio Supreme Court: Results for contested primary between Forbes and Jamison

Delaware County election results

Olentangy schools: Results for all key Delaware races

Licking County election results

Issues and races: Results for county commissioner, school issues and more

Fairfield County election results

Issues: Results for key Fairfield issues

Madison County election results

Results: County Commissioner and issues

Pickaway County election results

Results: Contested primaries for sheriff and other offices

Union County election results

Results: Sheriff's race and issues

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio primary election: Latest news, results tonight for Columbus area