Republican Carey, Democrat Russo nominated in special election primaries

Republican Mike Carey and Democratic state Rep. Allison Russo have been nominated to face off in a November special election for Ohio’s 15th Congressional District. 

The winner will replace former Republican U.S. Rep. Steve Stivers, who resigned from Congress to join the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, according to the Columbus Dispatch. 

Carey, a former coal lobbyist who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump, won with 37% of the Republican vote, according to the New York Times. 

Carey defeated state Sen. Bob Peterson, former state Rep. Ron Hood, state Rep. Jeff LaRe and seven other candidates. Stivers endorsed LaRe, according to the Dispatch. 

According to the Athens County Board of Elections, Carey won Athens County with 38.04% of the votes.

Russo won her primary, defeating retired U.S. Army officer Greg Betts. Russo received over 84% of the Democratic vote, according to the New York Times. 

Russo won Athens County with 85.11% of the vote, according to the BOE. Russo had been endorsed by U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown and Athens Mayor Steve Patterson, according to the Athens Messenger.  

In total, over 50,000 votes were cast in the GOP primary, compared to just over 16,000 for the Democratic primary.

Athens County saw a 9.44% total voter turnout, according to the BOE.  

In other news, nominees were chosen Tuesday night for a special election in Ohio’s 11th Congressional District as well. 

Cuyahoga County Democratic Party Chair Shontel Brown defeated former State Sen. Nina Turner in the Democratic primary. She will face Republican Laverne Gore in the November general election.

Turner previously served as the co-chair of Bernie Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign. Turner was endorsed by Sanders, while Brown had been endorsed by Hillary Clinton, according to the New York Times. 

Brown won with just over 50% of the vote, compared to Turner’s 44%. 11 other candidates finished with under 2% of the vote.