Commission, recorder races will be competitive in county

The Lawrence County Board of Elections finalized the ballot for the March 19 primary and the vast majority of countywide offices will be unopposed races.

In filings The Tribune picked up at the board on Thursday, all candidates running for office this year, other than two, were Republicans, marking another election in which the county’s Democratic Party failed to field candidates for most offices on the ballot.

This year, two of the three Lawrence County Commission seats are up for election.

Incumbent Commissioner DeAnna Holliday is running for third term as a Republican, and faces no challengers in either the primary or from Democrats for her seat, assuring her of re-election.

In the other commission race, incumbent Colton Copley is running for a second full term (Copley was appointed to the seat in 2018, to fill the remaining term of the late Bill Pratt) and faces Randy Wise and Hunter Tolliver in the Republican primary. On the Democratic side, Louis Sheridan is running unopposed in his party’s primary for the seat and will face the Republican nominee in November.

The lone countywide Democratic officeholder seeking reelection this year is Lawrence County Clerk of Courts Mike Patterson, who faces no opposition in either the primary or from Republicans in the fall.

One seat that will be competitive this spring is that of Lawrence County Auditor. Sharon Gossett Hager is retiring, after decades in office.

Seeking to be her successor are Republicans Terry Porter, Lori Morris and Barry Blankenship. No Democrats have filed for the seat.

Other countywide incumbents who will run unopposed in 2024 (barring any possible third party filing later in the year) are Lawrence County Treasurer Tresa Baker, who is seeking a second term, Lawrence County Common Pleas Judge Christen Finley, running for a second term, Lawrence County Engineer Patrick Leighty, Lawrence County Coroner Ben Mack and Lawrence County Prosecuting Attorney Brigham Anderson.

Lawrence County Sheriff Jeff Lawless is also seeking re-election. Beth Rist had initially picked up petitions to file to run for that office, but they were not filed by the deadline.

In the General Assembly races, State Rep. Jason Stephens, a Republican whose district covers Lawrence County and is currently serving as speaker of the House for Ohio, is running unopposed this year.

Outside of federal races, this will be a busy election year.

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, is seeking re-election to a fourth term. Republicans Frank LaRose, Matt Dolan and Bernie Moreno are seeking the Republican nomination to challenge Brown in the fall.

U.S. Rep. Brad Wenstrup, who 2nd Congressional District covers Lawrence County, is retiring at the end of the year.

Seeking to fill that seat are Republicans Niraj Antani, Kim Georgeton, Phil Heimlich, Matthew Henderson, Ron Hood, Tom Hwang, Larry Kidd, Derek Myers, Tim O’Hara, Charles Tassell, David Taylor and Shane Wilkin. Democrats seeking the seat are Samantha Meadows and Joe Wessels.

Ohioans will also be voting for president this year, and must decide whether to award the state’s electoral votes to incumbent Democrat Joe Biden or his Republican challenger (a nomination race in which former President Donald Trump currently leads).

Also on the ballot this year is the Ohio Supreme Court, as well as the 4th District Court of Appeals.