Challengers Take Seats In AW-Area Races

For the Anthony Wayne area, this year’s local elections were anything but boring, especially for the Lucas County Republican Party (LCRP), which saw most of its candidates take seats.

As of November 3, the results were unofficial.

In the hotly contested race for two positions on the Anthony Wayne Local Schools Board of Education, Kyle Miller took 25 percent of the votes, followed by incumbent Troy Lutz with 20.2 percent of the votes. Lutz won by just two votes over Andrew Prine, who along with Miller was endorsed by the LCRP. Andrew Teet and Bob Kimball followed with 18.85 percent and 15.6 percent of the votes. 

In Whitehouse, longtime council member Bill May will end his run after former administrator and council member Dennis Recker took 24.6 percent of the vote. Recker was the only endorsed Republican. Incumbents Richard Bingham and Louann Artiaga held onto their seats with 21.74 percent and 19.58 percent of the votes, respectively. May earned 17.9 percent and newcomer Morgan Kosinski gained 16.18 percent of the votes. Bob Keogh, who was running unopposed for a two-year, unexpired term, was also reelected.

In Monclova Township, both of the LCRP’s endorsements won seats. Barbara Lang was reelected with 35 percent and Trudy Yoder Vicary earned 25 percent of the vote. Challengers Ron Loeffler and Heidi Hess took in 21.73 percent and 17.74 percent of the votes, respectively.

Monclova Township voters also handily passed a one-year renewal of a 1.5-mill levy for police protection.

In Waterville Township, the only newcomer to the board of trustees will be Kim Anderson, who ran unopposed for one of two, four-year terms. She joins incumbents Kyle Hertzfeld and Julie Theroux, who took the two-year term with 66.44 percent of the votes over challenger Karen Schneider. Catherine Vorst ran unopposed for the job of fiscal officer.

In other townships and in the city of Waterville, the incumbents ran unopposed, so the results were no surprise. 

Voter turnout countywide averaged 22.9 percent, with 67,542 of the 294,495 registered voters taking to the polls. In the Anthony Wayne area, the turnout was slightly higher, between 24 and 30 percent.