Current state Rep. Shane Wilkin (R-Hillsboro) will face off against Gary Boone (D-Hillsboro) in the 2022 General Election for Ohio’s 17th District state senator seat, according to unofficial results from Tuesday’s primary/special election.
In the Republican state senator race, Wilkin received 9,088 votes compared to 2,495 for Thomas Hwang.
Boone, running unopposed on the Democratic ticket, received 2,664 votes.
For the state representative seat for the 91st District, current State Senator Bob Peterson (R-Washington C.H.) received 3,994 votes. He will run opposed in the General Election to fill the seat being vacated by Wilkin.
In Highland County for the 17th District State Senator race, Wilkin received 1,718 votes, Hwang 492 and Boone 302.
For the 17th District Democratic State Central Committee (Men), Chase Brown received 167 votes in Highland County and 1,456 overall, while Dylan Page received 141 votes in Highland County and 1,312 overall.
For the 17th District Democratic State Central Committee (Women), Stacy Brooks received 308 votes in Highland County and 2,685 overall. She was unopposed.
For the 17th District Republican State Central Committee (Women), Bonnie Ward received 1,871 votes in Highland County and 9,775 overall. She was unopposed.
Just 2,541 of Highland County’s 27,017 registered voters cast a vote for Tuesday’s election. That’s just a 9.41 percent turnout.
A major reason cited by election officials for the extremely low turnout across the state is that this was the second primary election of the year. The Ohio House and Senate primary races typically take place in May, but a second special primary became necessary as a result of the ongoing issues with district maps that have repeatedly been struck down by the state’s Supreme Court.
In July, the Ohio Supreme Court rejected a second Republican-drawn map of U.S. House districts as gerrymandered, sending it back for a third attempt to meet constitutional parameters approved by Ohio voters. The ruling added to a string of court defeats for Ohio’s ruling Republicans amid the once-per-decade redistricting process that states undertake to reflect population changes from the U.S. Census. Despite those failures in court, however, Ohio’s 2022 congressional primaries went forward on May 3 under an earlier invalidated U.S. House map, and its legislative primaries went forward Tuesday under an unconstitutional Statehouse map.
