On Tuesday, voters will decide three major statewide issues, but there are also some important local campaigns.
Issue 1 would overhaul the process of determining electoral districts for Ohio’s legislature. Issue 3 is a constitutional amendment to legalize recreational and medical marijuana sales, growth and distribution in the state. Issue 3 has been controversial not just because it legalizes pot, but because it authorizes just ten groups of investors to open up grow sites, writing those sites into the state’s constitution and leading some to accuse the amendment sponsors, ResponsibleOhio, of attempting to create a constitutional monopoly.
Issue 2 was put on the ballot by legislators in direct response to the marijuana issue. It would make constitutional monopolies difficult for Ohio voters to pass, and if both Issue 2 and Issue 3 pass, it’s not clear what will happen.
The Ohio Secretary of State’s office released the following descriptions of the three issues:
State Issue 1: Creates a bipartisan, public process for drawing legislative districts
State Issue 2: Anti-monopoly amendment; protects the initiative process from being used for personal economic benefit
State Issue 3: Grants a monopoly for the commercial production and sale of marijuana for recreational and medicinal purposes
Statewide election results will be posted on election night, Nov. 3, at this address:
Montgomery County
Contested city council and/or mayoral elections are up in Brookville, Centerville, Germantown, Huber Heights, Kettering, Miamisburg, Riverside, Trotwood and West Carrollton, among others.
Dayton City Commission also has two seats open with just one incumbent, which means at least one new face for sure. There are also more than a dozen school board elections, including Dayton Public Schools. And there’s an open seat for Dayton Municipal Court Judge.
Most of the levies for property and income tax are renewals, which means no new taxes coming your way even if they pass (although the Vandalia-Butler School District renewal levy has stirred up some controversy). Miami Township and Germantown both have additional levies for roads and bridges, and Sinclair Community College is asking for new money to improve its facilities.
Click through for a list of Montgomery County candidates and ballot issues and questions.
Clark County
There are 31 candidates running for 17 open school board seats across the county. Greenon, Northwestern, Tecumseh, Northeastern, Springfield City and the Clark County Board of Education all have contested races, with at least one incumbent running in each. The Clark County Board of Education has two open seats, with one incumbent and four other candidates running.
Other contested races include incumbent Municipal Court Judge Gene Nevius squaring off against Daniel Carey, an assistant Clark County prosecutor. Nevius is seeking his sixth consecutive term, while Carey has been with the prosecutor's office for seven years. And Incumbent Springfield Township Trustee Tim Foley is facing a challenge from Springfield Township Fire Chief John Roeder.
The Northwestern and Greenon school districts each have a renewal levy on the ballot, while Northwestern also has a substitute levy for voters to decide. The Clark County Historical Society is seeking a five-year levy for maintenance and operations. More than 80 candidates will appear on the ballot in Clark County.
Click through for a sample ballot for Clark County.
Greene County
There are city council races going on in Beavercreek, Fairborn, Xenia, Yellow Springs, Miami Township, Sugarcreek Township and Xenia Township. But Greene County has no contested mayoral races.
And school board seats are open in Beavercreek, Fairborn, Bellbrook-Sugarcreek and Greeneview.
There’s one new property tax levy for voters this year: a Greene County Park District tax. The .9-mill rate will cover operations and maintenance. It’ll last for five years.
There are also two county-wide renewal levies up for consideration. One would cover road maintenance and bridge repair costs over another five years. The other is a five-year renewal levy for Greene County Public Health.
Greene County candidates and ballot issues and questions
The following are links to either sample ballots or candidate and issue rundowns:
Champaign County election info
Stay tuned—while we can’t announce all results on air, we will post links to results online for Butler, Champaign, Clark, Clinton, Greene, Miami, Montgomery, Preble and Warren Counties late Tuesday.
The general election takes place this coming Tuesday, November 3, 2015.
