Mid-Ohio Valley Foundations – Communities: Party leaders react to GOP sweeping Washington County offices
Trending
MARIETTA -- The 2024 election for Washington County recorder didn't just mark the end of Tracey Wright's tenure in the office after more than 30 years.
Wright also was the last Democrat holding countywide office.
"Of course it's the goal," Washington County Republican Central Committee Chairman Jim Vuksic said when asked about the GOP now holding the offices of recorder, sheriff, prosecutor, treasurer, engineer, Common Pleas Court judge and clerk, coroner and all three County Commission seats. "We try to put good candidates up."
But Vuksic said he feels party affiliation is less of a factor at the local level than it is in state and national politics. In those echelons, he said, the rhetoric and animosity ramps up toward hatred.
"It didn't used to be that way, I don't think," he said. "I wouldn't run a business that way, and unfortunately, they're running our country that way.
"I have friends who are Democrats," Vuksic said. "We argue back and forth, but the truth of it is we're still friends."
Washington County Democratic Party Chairwoman Willa O'Neill said she believes one-party control "at any level of our government is not a good or healthy thing.
"The elected officials become much less responsive to the citizens," she said.
It seems that some voters make their choices on the ballot based on the letter beside the person's name, O'Neill said. She acknowledged that happens with some Democrats as well as Republicans, although the GOP has a strong majority at the state and county level.
"Many of them pay no attention to issues or what their elected officials are doing," O'Neill said.
The Washington County Board of Elections website tallies 27,917 of the county's 43,273 registered voters as not affiliated with any party. Among those who are affiliated, Republicans outnumber Democrats more than 4-to-1.
"Southeast Ohio is generally Republican," Vuksic said. Marietta "tends to come and go; there's a little bit of both."
Marietta City Council has four Democrats and three Republicans, along with the Republican Council President Susan Vessels, who does not cast a vote. Mayor Joshua Schlicher is a Republican.
Democrat Mike Lorentz served as Belpre's mayor for four terms. But in 2023, he opted to run for one of three at-large City Council seats and finished fourth. Now the mayor and all seven council members are Republican.
Washington County Commissioners James Booth and Charlie Schilling appointed Vuksic to serve briefly as an interim county commissioner earlier this year until the Central Committee appointed Decatur Township Trustee Eddie Place to complete the term after Kevin Ritter was elected to the Ohio House of Representatives. But nearly 50 years ago Vuksic was elected to the commission - as a Democrat.
"I didn't have a real agenda" other than to "do what was right," he said.
More than party affiliation, Vuksic said he thinks elected officials should consider how long they serve. When he ran for re-election, he said, he announced he wouldn't seek a third term.
"Instead of trying to look at everything objectively, you become kind of defensive," Vuksic said.
Having so many positions held by Republicans makes it difficult to find Democrats to run, O'Neill said.
"They put in a lot of time to run for office," she said. "Especially with a countywide office, it's pretty expensive."
She estimated the cost can be between $30,000 and $50,000. Even with donations, "in the end, the candidate often bears a lot of the expense."
O'Neill said young people seem less interested in running for office these days. But even if someone doesn't want to seek office, she encouraged people to participate in government and know what's going on, rather than only think about it in election years.
Evan Bevins can be reached at ebevins@newsandsentinel.com.