Wayne Baker

Clark County Democratic Party Chairman Ron Rhine is planning to retire from his position next year.  A search for a replacement is currently underway.

Rhine took over as party chairman in 2007 after taking over the unexpired term of Charlie Bush. He was elected to the position in 2010.

He also served as a state representative and past president of the UAW International Union. He still serves on the Board of Elections.

Montgomery County county overwhelmingly passed Issue 70 on Tuesday. The bond issue is a $187 million levy that will go towards consolidating the downtown main library branch and 20 other locations into 17 buildings.

In unofficial results, voters approved Issue 70 by a count of 62% to 38%.  Over 122,200 people voted for the measure, while just over 75,500 voters opposed it.

Tim Kambitsch of the Dayton Metro Library says the levy's passage will also allow for updates on suburban branches and improvements to the library's programming.

The race for three Clark County Commission seats produced two clear winners Tuesday night and one race that looks like it will be heading for a recount.  In Montgomery County, two hotly-contested commission races went to Democrats.  WYSO's Wayne Baker reports.

In Clark County, Republican Ross McGregor defeated Democratic challenger David Herier 55 percent to 44 percent.  

Republican incumbent John Detrick took 56 percent of the vote to turn back his opponent, Democratic Douglas Geyer.

There were nearly 200 school levies on the ballot Tuesday in Ohio. WYSO's Wayne Baker reports that several districts around the Miami Valley were seeking levy support from voter's to replace state aid ad revenue lost through tax changes.

In Montgomery County, Centerville, Miamisburg, Huber Height and Vandalia-Butler all had levy requests rejected by voters. Jefferson Township and West Carrolton were also unsuccessful.

Clark County voters did not approve Issue 25 yesterday. The Developmental Disabilities Board there was seeking approval of a new, 1.75 million, eight year levy. WYSO's Wayne Baker reports that the issue failed by more than 1,100 votes.

According to unofficial results with 100 percent of the precincts reporting, Issue 25 failed by a count of 51 to 49 percent. More than 30,000 voters were against the measure and 29,000 voted to approve it.