SIDNEY — A huge number of Shelby County voters turned out for Tuesday’s election and they solidly backed Republican candidates in national and state races.
After the votes from all 35 precincts in the county were counted, 87.15 percent of eligible voters had weighed in. Board of Elections officials anticipate that when ballots that were mailed on time are added in, the number could climb to 90 percent.
Of 26,997 eligible voters in Shelby County, 23,527 cast ballots.
Seventy-eight percent of those voters put their “X” next to Donald Trump’s name for president. He got 18,148 votes to Hillary Clinton’s 4,143 here. Other presidential candidates got a few nods. Richard Duncan won 127 votes; Gary Johnson, 572; and Jill Stein, 120. There were 195 Shelby County voters who cast ballots and did not vote for president. Eighty-two people voted for more than one presidential candidate. Those votes will not count for anyone.
In the race for the U.S. Senate, incumbent Rob Portman, R-Cincinnati, got 18,950 Shelby County votes, 82.6 percent of those cast. Democrat Ted Strickland took 3,054 votes. Green Party candidate Joseph R. DeMare got 260 votes; Tom Connors, 325; and Scott Rupert 343.
Shelby Countians overwhelmingly re-elected Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Urbana, to represent the 4th District in the House of Representatives. He took 82.89 percent — 18,888 — of the votes cast. His opponent, Democrat Janet Garret got 3,900 votes.
Keith Faber, of Celina, was chosen by Shelby Countians to represent the 84th district in the Ohio House of Representatives. His 7,920 votes easily surpassed the 1,290 garnered by Democrat Ed Huff Jr.
It was no surprise that Sidney resident William R. Zimmerman won the county’s votes to serve as judge of the 3rd District Court of Appeals. Voters gave him 17,289 votes to Randall L. Basinger’s 2,755.
In state Supreme Court races that were contested, Shelby County gave 9,236 votes to Pat Fischer; 8,781 to John P. O’Donnell in one race and 13,624 to Pat DeWine; 5,281 to Cynthia Rice in the other.
In a race to sit on the state board of education, Lilli Vitale got 7,541 votes; Tanyce J. Addison, 2,208; Linda Haycock, 4,028; and Martha A. Manchester, 3,660.
The counts are not official until the election is certified on Nov. 21.
