Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

2018 Primary Had Low Turnout, Record Money, Few Surprises

Karen Kasler

While there may have been a lot of interest in yesterday’s primary among political junkies, turnout among Ohio voters was just under 21 percent.

This year’s Republican primary for governor was easily the most expensive in Ohio history, with at least $10 million spent by Mike DeWine to defeat Mary Taylor. Richard Cordray dominated the six-way Democratic gubernatorial primary, but only spent $1.7 million compared to his closest competitor, Dennis Kucinich, who spent less than a half a million. There were 13 sitting state representatives who were facing primary challengers – only Republican Wes Retherford of Hamilton was defeated.  And Democratic Reps. Nickie Antonio and Teresa Fedor defeated fellow representatives Martin Sweeney and Mike Ashford to win their Ohio Senate primaries. And though more Democratic ballots had been requested in early voting, 20 percent more Republicans ballots were cast overall.

Copyright 2018 The Statehouse News Bureau

Contact Karen at 614/578-6375 or at kkasler@statehousenews.org.