Ohio’s unofficial election results show voters rejected Issue 1. Republicans strongly favored Issue 1 — saying it would make it harder for big money entities outside of Ohio to influence state-wide policies. Rick Perales, a Republican Greene County Commissioner, believes the legislature’s decision to put the issue on the August ballot helped defeat it.
“A lot of people were angry they had to vote in August. Our elected officials said they wouldn’t have off session elections, they were too expensive and they are hugely expensive," Perales said. "Then one of the first things they do is put an off session election in August for this. I think that is wrong. If they couldn’t get it done in May then they missed the boat.”
Meanwhile, Kim McCarthy, who heads Greene County’s Democratic Party, believes Tuesday night’s results show Greene County is shifting from its long held conservative stance.
“One of the key points about Greene County is that we do have 40% plus of four-year college attainment amongst our population. That puts us into a group like Franklin County," McCarthy explained. "Now Franklin is very blue — that’s Columbus.”
McCarthy and Perales do agree their parties need to continue educating their base and voters in the ‘middle’ as they prepare for the upcoming November elections, when Ohioans will decide whether or not to enshrine women’s reproductive access into the state’s founding document.
