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Final, unofficial results from Tuesday’s Washington County primary

By Evan Bevins 5 min read

The Belpre City Schools bond issue failed, and Randall Jedlink won the Republican nomination for Marietta Municipal Court judge, according to final, unofficial totals from the Washington County Board of Elections.

And there were just enough provisional ballots to leave the outcome of one utility aggregation question for unincorporated areas of the county up in the air.

With all seven precincts in the Belpre school district reporting, the 8.567-mill bond issue for a new K-12 Belpre campus and an accompanying 1-mill facility maintenance levy were rejected, 1,027-837. The totals were posted on the board's website after Tuesday's deadline.

Questions of whether to authorize the county to participate in electrical and gas aggregation programs in an effort to reduce costs eked out affirmative decisions. But there are 12 provisional ballots from those 36 precincts to be considered at the Board of Elections' official count on May 17, Director Mandy Amos said. The electrical issue's 13-vote margin is secure but the gas question, with just seven more yes votes than no's, could be in question.

Countywide, there were 31 provisional ballots.

With all 50 precincts accounted for, Jedlink received 2,299 votes in the GOP primary for Municipal Court judge, a position that is elected countywide. His opponent, Amy Bean, got 1,051 votes.

"We're happy with the outcome," said Jedlink, the magistrate for the Juvenile and Probate Division in Washington County Common Pleas Court. "We were somewhat confident going into the evening, but anything can happen."

Jedlink said Bean "ran a great campaign, a clean campaign."

He will face independent Shoshanna Brooker, Washington County Common Pleas Court magistrate, in the general election.

There were no contested primaries in Marietta's city elections. The candidates for the general election are:

¯ Mayor: Joshua D. Schlicher, Republican.

¯ President of City Council: Susan L. Vessels, Republican; David Grande, Democrat.

¯ Auditor: Sherri J. Hess, Republican.

¯ Law Director: Paul G. Bertram III, Republican.

¯ Council At Large (three): Marjorie Bevans, Republican; Cassidi Shoaf, Republican; William Farnsworth, Democrat; Harley Noland, Democrat; Kevin Paskawych, Democrat; Jon Grimm, independent.

¯ Council 1st Ward: Michael Scales, Democrat.

¯ Council 2nd Ward: Bret Allphin, Democrat.

¯ Council 3rd Ward: Bill Gossett, Republican.

¯ Council 4th Ward: Geoff Schenkel, Democrat.

Some additional independent candidates filed to run in the general election by the May 1 deadline but have not yet been certified, Amos said. Ann Labes and Jeff Walker have filed for mayor, while Alison Arocho filed to run for auditor.

Amos said the board is expected to act on those certifications on June 14.

In the lone contested primary in the City of Belpre Tuesday, John Ambrozy won the Republican nomination for Belpre City Council's 4th Ward seat.

"I'm very excited ... very excited to help Belpre going forward," Ambrozy said after deadline Tuesday. "It's a safe town; we need to keep it that way."

Ambrozy, who retired after more than 33 years with Kraton and is making his first run for public office, said he also wants to ensure there is infrastructure in place to support future business growth.

He defeated incumbent Councilman Steve Null by a margin of 200-99.

No Democrat filed to run for the seat. However, write-in candidates can apply to run in the general election until 4 p.m. Aug. 28.

After the primary, the general election slate for Belpre includes:

¯ Mayor: Susan J. Abdella, Republican; James Nelson, independent.

¯ President of Council: Larry K. Martin, Republican.

¯ City Council, at large (three): David E. Ferguson, Republican; Nathaniel S. Godfrey, Republican; Penne L. Riffle, Republican; Michael Lorentz, Democrat.

¯ Council 1st Ward: William W. Locke, Republican.

¯ Council 2nd Ward: none.

¯ Council 3rd Ward: Lyndsay Dennis, Republican.

¯ Council 4th Ward: Ambrozy, Republican.

¯ Law Director: Tom Webster, Democrat.

No Democratic primary races were contested, so the only ballots on Tuesday were Republican or issues-only.

Councilman Alan Millhone has filed to run for mayor as an independent. His certification is also expected to be considered at the June 14 meeting.

Results from Tuesday's primary election:

BELPRE

Mayor

¯ Susan J. Abdella -- 798

President of Council

¯ Larry K. Martin -- 829

Director of Law

No valid petition filed

Member of Council, At-Large (three)

¯ David E. Ferguson -- 684

¯ Nathaniel S. Godfrey -- 581

¯ Penne L. Riffle -- 551

Member of Council, 1st Ward

¯ William W. Locke -- 187

Member of Council, 2nd Ward

No valid petition filed

Member of Council, 3rd Ward

¯ Lyndsay Dennis -- 235

Member of Council, 4th Ward

¯ John J. Ambrozy -- 200

¯ Steve Null -- 99

MARIETTA

Mayor

¯ Joshua D. Schlicher -- 458

President of Council

¯ Susan L. Vessels -- 416

Auditor

¯ Sherri J. Hess -- 434

Director of Law

¯ Paul G. Bertram III -- 403

Member of Council, At-Large (three)

¯ Marjorie Bevans -- 278

¯ Cassidi Shoaf -- 320

Member of Council, 1st Ward

No valid petition filed

Member of Council, 2nd Ward

No valid petition filed

Member of Council, 3rd Ward

¯ Bill Gossett -- 133

Member of Council, 4th Ward

No valid petition filed

Judge of the Municipal Court

¯ Amy Bean -- 1,051

¯ Randall Jedlink -- 2,299

Belpre City Schools bond and levy

¯ For the bond issue and levy -- 837

¯ Against the bond issue and levy -- 1,027

Washington County, Electric Aggregation

¯ Yes -- 1,094

¯ No -- 1,081

Washington County, Gas Aggregation

¯ Yes -- 1,075

¯ No -- 1,068

Starting at /week.