Republicans fare well in local, statewide races

Republicans had a good night nationally and in Ohio on Nov. 5, winning the presidency and a majority in the U.S. Senate.

The U.S. Senate majority is thanks in part to the Ohio race between Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown and Republican businessman Bernie Moreno. Moreno, a Colombian-born immigrant and Trump-endorsed candidate, trailed Brown in the polls for most of the race but surged in recent weeks and ultimately beat Brown 50.2% to 46.4%.

Brown was the last Democrat remaining in statewide office to have won in a partisan election. Three of the seven justices on the Ohio Supreme Court are Democrats, but they were each elected before a 2021 rule-change requiring party labels in Supreme Court elections. On Tuesday, Republicans carried all three court seats on the ballot, setting the state up for a 6-1 Republican majority.

Republicans in Butler County had a good night, as well, winning by substantial margins in each contested race. Here’s how the local candidates on Oxford ballots fared.

State Senate: Lang defeats Cooke

George Lang, the incumbent Republican for Ohio’s 4th State Senate District, soundly defeated Democratic challenger Tom Cooke.

Lang served for two terms in Ohio’s State House before running for the State Senate in 2020. Following the 2020 census, his district was redrawn slightly but still includes a majority of Butler County. His first elected office was as a Township Trustee in West Chester, where he ran in 2003.

During Election Day, Lang said he spent the morning and early afternoon visiting various polling locations before attending a Butler County Republicans watch party to follow the statewide and national results in the evening. Republicans did well both nationally and in Ohio, where Republican Bernie Moreno successfully unseated incumbent Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown. All three Ohio Supreme Court races also went to Republicans, and Issue 1, a redistricting amendment broadly opposed by Republicans, was defeated.

“It was electrifying,” Lang said. “We all knew Trump was going to win, but when we finally saw Trump, when we saw Bernie, when we saw Issue 1 … we had some amazing victories in Ohio last night.”

Statewide, Republican’s majority in the State Senate narrowed slightly from 26 to 25 seats out of 33. The number is still enough for a two-thirds supermajority.

Lang said the conservative victories Tuesday were driven by issues with immigration and the economy during the past four years under President Joe Biden’s administration. Trump’s campaign messaging largely focused on those two themes.

On his first day in his second term as a state senator, Lang said he plans to introduce legislation to bring the state to a flat income tax of 2.75%. He hopes to eliminate the state income tax altogether in the next four to six years.

“My mission has always been business first,” Lang said. “I set out to make West Chester the most business-friendly community in the state, and now my goal is to make Ohio the most business-friendly state in the country. We’ve made tremendous progress in recent years, but there’s more work to do.”

State House: Mullins defeats Cummings

According to results from the Columbus Dispatch, Republicans won 65 out of 99 seats in the State House, just below a two-thirds supermajority. Those wins include Diane Mullins in the 47th District representing Hamilton and Oxford.

Mullins, a pastor at Calvary Church, defeated Democrat Vanessa Cummings, also a pastor, to win the seat. It’s currently held by Sara Carruthers, a Republican who Mullins successfully primaried this year after Carruthers voted alongside Democrats to support a moderate Republican to be the house speaker.

In a text statement to the Oxford Free Press, Mullins thanked her supporters and wrote that she is excited to go to Columbus. “I am proud of the hard work we have done,” Mullins wrote.

Mullins previously told the Free Press that her top three priorities would be to support small businesses, protect the lives of mothers and babies, and maintain parental rights in schools. Mullins said she would not cross party lines on votes if her Republican peers disagreed.

Mullins is the founder of Deborah’s Voice, an organization to rally Christian women to end abortion, “protect traditional marriage,” “preserve Christian values” and more, according to the organization’s website.

The Cincinnati Enquirer has previously reported that Mullins referenced antisemitic conspiracy theories and claimed that an “American communist cell” was replacing sculptures with “shapeless, awkward and meaningless forms.”

While all Republican candidates in Butler County won, two seats statewide flipped for Democrats, enough to end the Republican party’s 67-member supermajority.

County Commissioner races: Incumbent Republicans defeat Democratic challengers

Two Republican county commissioners, Don Dixon and T.C. Rogers, beat their Democratic challengers by 30-point margins on Tuesday. A Democrat hasn’t won countywide office since 1998, according to reporting by the Journal-News.

This was Dixon’s first contested election since being elected in 2007. He also previously served one term in 1982. Chantel Raghu, vice-mayor of Oxford, ran for Dixon’s seat, which he retained 66% to 34%.

Dixon’s campaign website lists his priorities as fiscal focus, economic development, public safety, community engagement and roads and bridges. In a previous statement provided to the Free Press, Dixon wrote that the county has “made investments in housing, commercial and industrial development, education, and recreation” during his time as a commissioner. He also highlighted Butler County’s status as one of the counties with the lowest sales tax in Ohio.

During a Republican candidate forum Oct. 15, Dixon said he would “deal with [Raghu] after the election.” He did not respond to a request for comment from the Free Press on Nov. 6.

Rogers, meanwhile, defeated Democratic challenger Tamara Small, a health worker from West Chester, 65% to 35%. Rogers was first elected in 2012 with 60% of the vote in a three-way race, and he hasn’t faced a contested election since then.

Rogers previously told the Free Press that his priorities if reelected would be to make the county workforce-ready, ensure that the county government is financially responsible and debt-free, and keep Butler County safe through relationships with local law enforcement.