As expected, Governor John Kasich and Lt. Governor Mary Taylor (R) won a second 4-year term with over 60% of the vote. The other statewide races (for Attorney General, Secretary of State, Auditor, and Treasurer) also saw incumbents easily win re-election.
Currently, Secretary of State Husted, Attorney General DeWine, and Lt. Governor Taylor are considered leading candidates to run for Governor in 2018.
The Ohio General Assembly will remain in Republican control by a wide margin. One item to note is that area State Representative Armond Budish (D-Beachwood) was elected Cuyahoga County Executive. Budish will take over the Executive role from Ed Fitzgerald (D) in January. There is a transition team in place and in the coming weeks we will hear more about what Executive-elect Budish has in mind for Cuyahoga County.All Congressional incumbents were also re-elected. It is worth noting that area Congressman David Joyce (R-Russell Township), whom was thought to face the toughest challenge in this cycle, won with 63% of the vote.
Issue 4 passed in Cleveland, which is a $200 million bond issue that will build new schools.Another issue that passed was a ban on the controversial police cameras that take photos of speeding motorists that later receive a ticket in the mail. Now, if a motorist receives a speeding ticket from one of these cameras they no longer have to pay the accompanying fine.The general point of contention was that because there was no police officer present to physically give the ticket to speeding motorists it ultimately wasn’t legal for the City to issue the tickets and collect a fine.