Ohio General Assembly Primary Election Preview: Incumbent Primaries

Currently in the Ohio House, there are 46 Republican and 22 Democrat incumbents seeking re-election, making for a total of 68. In the Ohio Senate, there are four Republican and three Democrat incumbents seeking re-election, a total of seven.

Today I will highlight the incumbent primaries in the General Assembly.

Click here for a comprehensive candidate list of Ohio General Assembly members. This list has been updated after the candidate petitions were certified by the county boards of elections. Protests against write-in candidates must be filed by 4:00 pm on March 2.

There are 13 incumbent House Republicans that drew primaries:

HD 16-Rep. David Greenspan has drawn a primary from Monique Boyd, a first-time candidate.

HD 28-Rep. Jonathan Dever has drawn a three-way primary with Charles Tassell and Matthew Robinson. Both challengers are write-in candidates.

HD 42-Rep. Niraj Antani has drawn a three-way primary with Sarah Clark, and Marcus Rech.

HD 47-Derek Merrin has drawn a primary from Barbara Lang, a candidate in 2016 for the open seat.

HD 51-Rep. Wes Retherford has drawn three-way primary with Sarah Carruthers, a TV producer and former press officer in the Reagan and H.W. Bush administrations, as well as former State Rep. Greg Jolivette.

HD 62-Rep. Scott Lipps has drawn a primary from Daniel Kroger, another first-time candidate.

HD 65-Rep. Jon Becker has drawn a primary from Erin Neace, a small business owner.

HD 72-Rep. Larry Householder has drawn a primary from Kevin Black, a financial adviser.

HD 73- Rep. Rick Perales has drawn a primary from Jocelyn Smith, a first-time candidate.

HD 78-Rep. Ron Hood has three-way primary with Austin Reid and Andrew Smigelski.

HD 81-Newly appointed Rep. Jim Hoops has drawn a primary from Thomas Liebrecht, the Putnam County GOP Chairman.

HD 85-Rep. Nino Vitale has a four-way primary with Justin Grifis, Rochiel Foulk, and Joseph Ratermann.

HD 87-Newly appointed Rep. Riordan McClain has drawn a three-way primary with Doug Weisenauer and former State Rep. Steve Reinhard.

 

There are three incumbent House Democrats that drew primaries:  

HD 8- Rep. Kent Smith has drawn a primary against Cassandra McDonald.

HD 25-Rep. Bernadine Kennedy-Kent has drawn a three-way primary against Ismail Mohamed and Lamar Peoples II.

HD 39-Rep. Fred Stahorn has drawn a primary against Walter Hickman.

 

There are two incumbent Senate Republicans that drew primaries:

SD 1- Sen. Rob McColley has drawn a three-way primary with Craig Kupferberg and Robert Barker.

SD 7-Sen. Steve Wilson has drawn a primary with Brad Lamoreaux.

 

There are three incumbent Senate Democrats that drew primaries:

SD 9-Sen. Cecil Thomas will square off against former State Rep. Dale Mallory.

SD 21-Sen. Sandra Williams has drawn a three-way primary with Jeff Johnson and State Rep. Bill Patmon.

SD 25-Sen. Kenny Yuko has drawn a primary with State Rep. John Barnes.