In Tuesday’s election, former Dayton mayor Gary Leitzell and Miami Twp. trustee Bob Matthews won their Republican primaries and will go on to challenge two long-serving Democratic incumbents for their Montgomery County Commission seats.
Leitzell and Matthews edged out their party-endorsed opponents—Donald Birdsall and Charlotte McGuire—by several percentage points.
Matthews says he’s looking ahead to the next election, and hopes 40 years experience in business and project management will get him a seat on the commission.
“Two of our current county commissioners are political science majors, one of them is a lawyer. None of them are business people. None of them are technical people,” Matthews said.
He will challenge Democratic Commissioner Judy Dodge for her seat in November.
Leitzell now moves on to challenge Commissioner Debbie Lieberman, who’s seeking her fourth term.
“I think it’s just time for fresh ideas and someone who’s a little bit more bold and try some things that others haven’t tried," the former mayor said.
In Greene County, Republican incumbents Tom Koogler and Robert Glaser both won their primary challenges.
