A handful of people filed petitions for spots on the November ballot in Portage County.
Among the races are Aurora government posts, and write-in spots on Mantua Village Council, and school boards in the Ravenna and Southeast Local districts.
Faith Lyon, director of the Portage County Board of Elections, said Aug. 21 was the filing deadline for municipal races in Aurora, and Aug. 25 was the write-in deadline for all other Portage County contests.
In Mantua, even with a write-in filing petitions, there still will be two vacancies on village council that must be filled in January, when the posts become vacant.
Unopposed in Aurora
In Aurora, Mayor Ann Womer Benjamin is unopposed in her bid for re-election, and those seeking seats on city council also face no opposition.
Current council members who filed to remain in office are Councilman Brad Duguay in Ward 1; Councilwoman Reva Barner in Ward 3; and Councilwoman Sarah Grdina Gilmore in Ward 5.
Ralph Ware also is running unopposed for City Council at-large. Ware is seeking to replace Peter French, who is not seeking another term.
Vacancies remain in Mantua
In Mantua, Councilman Chris Novotny filed petitions as a write-in candidate, joining Councilwoman Denise DiLellio on the ballot. Council members Dave Sluka and Dawn King, whose terms expire Dec. 31, are not seeking re-election.
Village council will need to appoint two people to serve.
School board write-ins
In the Ravenna and Southeast Local school districts, write-in candidates set up contested races in November.
Patricia Dennison was the only Ravenna Board of Education member whose seat expires this year to file for re-election. Current board members Joan Seman and LaTesha Dukes, whose terms expire this year, did not file petitions by the Aug. 6 deadline. Seman, however, later filed as a write-in candidate.
Wesley Ransom, who sought a seat on the Ravenna board in 2021, and Heather Rainone also filed petitions to run as write-in candidates for the Ravenna board. Rainone, director of development and marketing at United Way of Portage County, is former managing editor of the Record-Courier.
In the Southeast district, Logan Harrah filed as a write-in to run against Kevin Werschey. The two are competing for an unexpired term on the board that expires in 2027.
How do write-ins work?
In 2023, several write-in candidates sought seats throughout Portage County, including one race where every candidate was a write-in. That year, the only write-in to be elected was Streetsboro Councilwoman Marianne Glenn, whose opponents all were write-ins.
“There’s a whole slew of possibilities” why a person might choose to run as a write-in, Lyon said then, such as missing the deadline to appear on the ballot.
Voters can write in any name when voting, but those votes will not be counted unless the candidate has registered within the deadline set by the board, Lyon said. If the name is misspelled, Lyon said the vote still will be counted as long as the voter’s intent is clear. Voters can ask for a list of write-ins from a poll worker if they are unsure of a spelling, or can bring such information as slate cards with them.
Reporter Diane Smith can be reached at dsmith@recordpub.com.
This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Portage County ballots fill out with Aurora candidates, write-ins
Reporting by Diane Smith, Ravenna Record-Courier / Record-Courier
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