Winners and losers did not change in the 2016 General Election in Highland County after the official canvass was conducted Friday, although several provisional and absentee ballots that were added to the mix led to revised final counts in many races.
The Mowrystown mayor’s race between incumbent Frank Terwilliger and challenger Bonnie Parr, which had Terwilliger ahead by 5 votes on election night, ended up even closer, with Terwilliger winning 40-38.
In other tight contests, Jerry Miller Jr. won the Jackson Township trustee race with 141 official votes, compared to 136 for Stephen Waits and 60 for Doug Crum. In Salem Township, Dave Hamilton won the trustee race with 124 votes, compared to 104 for Jonathan Mootz and 42 for Chad Pitzer, while in the fiscal officer race in that township, Jamie Wells won with 136 votes compared to 126 for Becky Sanderson.
Freddie Snyder defeated Wendy Holliday in the Leesburg mayor’s race, 151-137.
The race that garnered the most attention locally this year was the Hillsboro mayor’s race. In the final count, incumbent Drew Hastings picked up 36 more votes to end up with 1,063, while challenger Pam Limes saw 21 votes added to her total to land at an official final tally of 726, meaning Hastings won with 59.4 percent of the vote.
Former Highland County Sheriff Ron Ward ended up winning the Liberty Township trustee race with 64.11 percent of the vote, taking 1,792 votes to 1,003 for Tyler Kelch.
Across the county, 173 votes were added to the unofficial results on election night, most of them provisional ballots along with 21 absentee ballots that arrived at the election board and that were postmarked in time to be counted. On election night, there were 145 provisional ballots yet to be counted. In the end, 7 provisional ballots were disallowed, based on final tallies.
Provisional ballots are cast when there are issues about a registration or a change of address question. Election officials investigate to make sure a voter was legally registered and did not cast a vote at two different locations. If they did not, the votes are counted.
Steve Witham, elections administrator with the Highland County Board of Elections, said no results are statistically close enough to trigger an automatic recount. Final official turnout in Highland County was 44.88 percent, with a total of 11,909 cards cast out of 26,538 registered voters.
Final official results are as follows.
Hillsboro mayor:
Drew Hastings 1063
Pam Limes 726
Hillsboro law director:
Fred Beery 1398
Hillsboro auditor:
Gary Lewis 1369
Greenfield council-at-large (3 seats):
Bob Bergstrom 541
Mark Clyburn, 469
Chris Borreson 414
William Redenbaugh 282
Village of Highland mayor
Henry Smith 61
Jeremy Kibbey 28
Village of Highland council (2 seats):
Donald Davy 61
Darlene Ervin 56
Village of Leesburg mayor:
Freddie Snyder 151
Wendy Holliday 137
Village of Leesburg council (2 seats):
Wesley Willey 164
Shawn Priest 158
Jeremy Cannon 121
Village of Lynchburg mayor:
Terry Burden 288
Tim Heizer 124
Gary Jones 76
Village of Lynchburg council (2 seats):
Marty Bailey 235
James Burton 214
Terry Moore 182
Kevin Radcliffe 101
Kevin Whitenack 96
Village of Mowrystown mayor:
Frank Terwilliger 40
Bonnie Parr 38
Village of Mowrystown council (2 seats):
Jan Cooper 63
Jeffrey Cooper (write-in) 9
Bright Local School District board (3 seats):
Tammy Hauke 793
Mike Ames 700
Fairfield Local School District board (3 seats):
Ron Friend 752
Shawn Willey 628
Scott Bates 549
Mary Haag 504
Jeff Burleson 416
Jennifer Waterman 237
Arthur Rigsby 221
Greenfield Exempted Village School District board (2 seats):
Sandy Free 1121
Greg Barr 948
Jason Allison 914
Hillsboro City School District board (2 seats):
Terry Britton 2746
Tom Milbery 2270
Michael Salyer 1571
Lynchburg-Clay Local School District (3 seats):
Chad McConnaughey 1308
Brad Hess 1094
Bobbie Jo Ernst 999
SOESC SD-7 Governing Board (1 seat) (Highland County only)
Roger West 1044
East Clinton School Board (2 seats0 (Highland County only)
Mark Garen 242
Greg Bronner 162
Eastern Local School Board (3 seats) (Highland County only)
Kenneth Kelch 9
Martin Yockey 9
Lowell Richey 5
Vernon Creighton 2
Eastern Local School Board Unexpired Term (1 seat) (Highland County only)
Debbie Forsythe 12
Miami Trace School Board (2 seats) (Highland County only)
Charlie Andrews 1
Bruce Kirkpatrick 1
Ohio Valley School Board (2 seats) (Highland County only)
Sarah McDaniel 124
Kent Bauman 57
Charlie Bess 56
Each township in Highland County had one trustee seat and the fiscal officer position up for election this year.
Brushcreek Township:
Trustee:
David Chaney 281
Fiscal officer:
Betty McElwee 250
Clay Township:
Trustee:
Jim Massey 379
Fiscal officer:
Pat Winkle 345
Concord Township:
Trustee:
Gary Shannon 325
Fiscal officer:
Karen Schroeder 284
Dodson Township:
Trustee:
Marvin Resibois 687
Fiscal officer:
Kristy Warner 468
Gary West 345
Fairfield Township:
Trustee:
Andy Caldwell 782
Fiscal officer:
Patrick Hagen 724
Hamer Township:
Trustee:
Nathan Mootz (write-in) 32
Fiscal officer:
Kim Walker 201
Jackson Township:
Trustee:
Jerry Miller Jr. 141
Stephen Waits 136
Doug Crum 60
Fiscal officer:
Carleta Weyrich 225
Chris Michael 129
Liberty Township:
Trustee:
Ronald Ward 1792
Tyler Kelch 1003
Fiscal officer:
Kay Barrera 2244
Madison Township:
Trustee:
Dan Mathews 1100
Fiscal officer:
Sherri Beatty 1049
Marshall Township:
Trustee:
Jeff Patton 252
Fiscal officer:
Sonya Blankenship 234
New Market Township:
Trustee:
Nick Bare 329
Wayne Harless 296
Fiscal officer:
Dick Barrera 556
Paint Township:
Trustee:
Randy Mustard 835
Fiscal officer:
Joshua Matthews 618
Penn Township:
Trustee:
Daryl Bumgarner 338
Trustee unexpired term:
Jay Duncan 318
Fiscal officer:
Jason Davis 346
Salem Township:
Trustee:
Dave Hamilton 124
Jonathan Mootz 104
Chad Pitzer 60
Fiscal officer:
Jamie Wells 136
Becky Sanderson 126
Union Township:
Trustee:
Nathan Brown 373
Fiscal officer:
Peggy Hite 355
Washington Township:
Trustee:
Arthur Harless 276
Fiscal officer:
Vic Gall 244
Whiteoak Township:
Trustee:
Fred Yochum 315
Fiscal officer:
Wayne Ferguson 315
Clay Township cemetery renewal, 0.5 mill, 5 years (50-Clay)
For 263, Against 167
Clay Township fire renewal, 1.5 mills, 5 years (50-Clay)
For 260, Against 169
Liberty Township cemetery additional, 0.1 mill, 5 years (61-Liberty NE, 62-Liberty NW, 63-Liberty S)
For 405, Against 699
Flagway 16-Local Option (Sunday sales beer) (01-Greenfield North)
Yes 220, No 205
Buford Convenient Mart-Local Option (beer, wine and mixed beverages) (50-Clay)
Yes 310, No 127
Buford Convenient Mart-Local Option (Sunday sales-wine and mixed beverages) (50-Clay)
Yes 277, No 162
State Issue One (Redistricting)
Yes 7151, No 3923
State Issue Two (Anti-monopoly amendment)
Yes 5641, No 5945
State Issue Three (Marijuana legalization)
Yes 4463, No 7334
Reach Gary Abernathy at 937-393-3456 or on Twitter @abernathygary.