Republicans dominate locally

Republicans were expecting a good night. What they got was a great night.
In a dominant performance Tuesday, Jay County Republicans cruised to wins with their candidates each taking at least 60 percent of the vote in their respective races for commissioner, Jay Circuit Court clerk and coroner.
“I didn’t think we’d be that strong,” party chairman Milo Miller Jr. said Tuesday at a gathering of local Republicans. “Jay County did good. All the Republicans came out and voted and I’m real happy about that.”
In the two races for commissioners, Jay County voters decisively said they want to keep three Republicans in charge.
In the South District race for commissioner, Republican Chuck Huffman garnered 62.12 percent of the vote to handily defeat Democrat Ted Champ.
Early precinct results showed Huffman with a strong lead and it held steady throughout the evening.
“I thought it would be very, very close,” said Huffman, a longtime banker at First Merchants Bank in Portland. “I know I worked hard. I know he did too. I think it was a good race.”
Huffman, a Dunkirk resident, took home wins in 17 of the county’s 18 precincts.
He earned 64.5 and 61.37 percent of the vote in Dunkirk 1 and 3 respectively, two precincts with more Democratic leanings.  
The only precinct he lost was Redkey.
Huffman said he and Champ both ran good, straight forward campaigns and added the two actually ran into each other Monday night in Dunkirk while putting up signs and had a nice talk, during which they agreed to work with each other no matter who ended up winning Tuesday’s election.
After it became clear Huffman would win the race, Champ stopped by the Republican election event at John Jay Center for Learning and congratulated Huffman on his win.
Huffman will replace Republican Jim Zimmerman, who is retiring.
In losing the commissioner race, Champ will remain on county council and said he looks forward to working with Huffman in that capacity. He has two more years on his term.
“I look forward to working with Chuck,” said Champ. “No hard feelings. The voters spoke.
“I’m here to make Jay County better. Chuck beat me fair and square. He’s a good guy. We’ll work together and we’ll make Jay County better.”
Republicans saw a similarly strong result in the race for the open North District commissioern seat with Mike Leonhard winning with more 60 percent of the vote over Democrat Robert Franks Jr.
Leonhard, who currently serves on county council, won all 18 precincts.
A self-employed contractor and former two-term commissioner, Leonhard said he figured he’d win but was surprised by the wide margin of victory.
“I was really surprised I beat him that much,” he said. “I’m ready to get back to work.”
Leonhard will replace current Jay County Commissioners president Faron Parr, whom he defeated in May’s Republican primary.
He said he’s ready to help tackle the issues facing Jay County.
He believes him, Huffman and current commissioner Doug Inman will make a strong trio.
“I think with the three people we’ve got that’s gonna be commissioners, we can do Jay County justice,” he said.
Republicans saw their strongest win of the night in the race for clerk of Jay Circuit and Superior courts, as Jon Eads racked up 68 percent of the vote to defeat Democrat Tony Minch.
Like Leonhard, Eads took home a victory in all of Jay County’s precincts.
Eads, an assistant manager at Arby’s, suggested the dominating results are a testament to his campaign as well to his number of years working in the community.
“I’m pretty well-known that way,” he said.
While expecting a win Tuesday night, Eads shared the sentiments of his fellow Republicans when it came to seeing the large totals of votes casted for him.
“I figured I’d win. I never figured I’d win all precincts or by such a large margin,” he said.
Going into the evening, Republican coroner candidate Michael Brewster thought the final result of his race was going to be very close.
It wasn’t.
Brewster earned 60 percent of the vote, defeating Democrat Curt Compton. Early precinct results showed Brewster, a Portland police officer, with the edge of Compton.
He never lost it, as he ended up winning 17 of the county’s 18 precincts. Compton defeated Brewster in Dunkirk 3 by 19 votes, but lost the county by nearly 1,700 votes.
“I think it boils down to being a personable person. I think being someone a lot of people know and a lot of people can relate to and I think having the right attitude helps too,” Brewster said when asked about his large win.
In the election for three at-large county council seats, incumbent Republicans Cindy Newton (4,506) and Jeanne Houchins (4,184) and incumbent Democrat Gary Theurer (4,205) breezed to victory. Democrat Michelle McShane (2,601) was the only other candidate in the race.
While the local GOP was celebrating its big night, the atmosphere was mostly subdued at Jay County Democrat headquarters on Meridian Street in Portland with the exception of some early congratulations for Theurer. It became clear early that he would be the only local Democrat to earn a nod.
“I’m very grateful to the voters of Jay County for still supporting me,” he said. “We’ve got some tough decisions to make here in the next three or four years. It’ll be a challenge and we’ll move forward.”
The results across the board were so definitive that Democrat headquarters started to clear out with still about a third of the county’s precincts left to report results.
Bob Clamme, chairman of Jay County’s Democrats, said that while there had been pre-election worry that GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump could hurt fellow Republicans, he felt the businessman did the opposite locally.
“My unprofessional opinion is that I think Trump pulled up the ticket here,” he said. “Political experts were worried about the down ticket, but I think Trump actually pulled up the local candidates here in Jay County. That’s my theory.”
He expressed the feeling that local Democrats need to become more involved in order to give members of the party a better chance to succeed in the traditionally-Republican county.
“I think we just have to organize a little bit better,” he said. “And that’s been a problem for quite a while. We just have to organize better and just get more people involved in party politics. … So I hope we can do that.”
Long-time Republican county surveyor Brad Daniels and Republican treasurer candidate Paula Alexander Miller also earned victories Tuesday in uncontested races.