Politics

Howard Wilkinson: Politics and More

0000017a-3b40-d913-abfe-bf44a4f90000Howard Wilkinson joined the WVXU news team as the politics reporter and columnist in April 2012 , after 30 years of covering local, state and national politics for The Cincinnati Enquirer. On this page, you will find his weekly column, Politically Speaking; the Monday morning political chats with News Director Maryanne Zeleznik and other news coverage by Wilkinson. A native of Dayton, Ohio, Wilkinson has covered every Ohio gubernatorial race since 1974, as well as 16 presidential nominating conventions. Along with politics, Wilkinson also covered the 2001 Cincinnati race riots, the Lucasville prison riot in 1993, the Air Canada plane crash at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport in 1983, and the 1997 Ohio River flooding. And, given his passion for baseball, you might even find some stories about the Cincinnati Reds here from time to time.

Recounts Show Two Local Races Were Decided By A Single Vote

91.7 WVXU | By Howard Wilkinson

Published December 3, 2015 at 2:15 PM EST

The recounts of the Nov. 3 election are over in southwestern Ohio counties; and two races – Arlington Heights mayor and a seat on Franklin city council – were decided by only one vote.

There were nine recounts altogether in Hamilton, Warren and Butler counties. Clermont County had no races close enough for a recount.

Warren County:

A single vote separated a winner from a loser in the Franklin City Council race. In the original certified results, Jason Faulkner led Debbie Fouts for the fourth and final seat on council by two votes. Faulkner lost three votes in the recount; and Fouts won by one vote – 1,064 to 1,063.

Before the recount, Faulkner had a slim lead in the race.

Warren County elections director Brian Sleeth said one reason Faulkner lost votes in the recount was because of a poll worker error. A poll worker thought some ballots were jammed in a scanner, pulled them out, and ran them through again so they were counted twice, Sleeth said.

The other three Warren County recounts produced no change in the certified results – Brian S. Morris defeated incumbent Greg Sample for Franklin Township trustee, Lori L. Raleigh defeated Andrew Fleming for a seat on the on the Franklin Board of Education, and Courtney Allen won a seat on the Mason Board of Education over Erin Schmidt.

Hamilton County:

The Hamilton County Board of Elections conducted four recounts. The recounts produced no changes in the certified results.

Joe Harper retained his one vote lead over Steven Crase for Arlington Heights mayor. There were 209 votes cast. There is only one precinct in Arlington Heights so the board hand-counted all the ballots, instead of the usual five percent of precincts hand-counted in a recount.

John R. Estep defeated Bill Burkhardt for St. Bernard mayor.

Dan Kunkel kept his lead over Debbie Wisser for a seat on the Reading Board of Education; and Phyllis Baber kept her four-vote lead over Barbara Jackson-Hardy for a seat on Lincoln Heights Village Council.

Butler County:

In the race for a second seat on the New Miami Board of Education, three candidates – Susan J. Price (405 votes), Penny Gray (403 votes) and Christine Ruder (400 votes) were within five votes of each other in the official count. After the recount, the results remained the same, and Gray won the seat over Ruder.