Athens residents will be able to narrow the November ballot down to their ideal local candidates this Tuesday during the Ohio primary elections, though Debbie Quivey, director of the Athens Board of Elections, said she won’t be surprised if the turnout is low.
Quivey noted that most of the local positions, ranging from county auditor to county commissioner, are uncontested within their party, which might account for a voter turnout of less than 20 percent.
“With elections it’s always hard to determine,” Quivey said. “Usually primaries have lower turnouts, except for presidential. People just do not vote in primaries like they do in a general because there is not a lot to vote for.”
In 2010, the primary election turnout was roughly 13 percent, while in the 2012 presidential election, the numbers were close to 30 percent, according to the board’s website.
However, Athens residents will be able to choose between three different democrat judge candidates for the common pleas court general division.
Pat Lang, the city’s current law director, William Biddlestone, former Athens County prosecuting attorney and Todd Grace, the county juvenile and probate magistrate, will all be competing to make the ballot.
There will be no republican candidate contesting them, and Quivey said an instance of this many people running for a judge’s position is rare.
The judge’s position for the general division unexpired term will also be up for grabs, with both Democrat Herman Carson, attorney and director of the Office of the Ohio Public defender, running against current republican Athens Common Pleas Court Judge George P. McCarthy.
“Judges, when they are elected, tend to stay and be reelected,” Quivey said. “But you had two judges who had been there for ages and they retired: Judge Ward and Judge Goldsberry.”
The Athens County auditor seat will also be up reelection, with both Athens City Auditor Kathy Hecht, a Democrat, and incumbent auditor Jill Thompson, a Republican, trying for the seat.
Thompson was originally appointed to the position in 2000, and elected in 2002, she said. She hasn’t started campaigning yet, but plans to in the fall.
“I just think that my actions and my productivity efforts that I put forth in my current capacity most likely speak for themselves,” Thompson said. “If there’s someone in this county that needs help, I’m going to do that.”
Thompson said she was anticipating opposition from a democratic candidate, in this case, Kathy Hecht.
Hecht will be running for the county seat for her first time, citing the “need for change” within the auditor’s office as her reason to run.
Hecht has been the city auditor for 10 years.
“I think there needs to be a more cooperative working relationship with the rest of the county employees and the citizens of Athens County,” Hecht said. “It’s a very important position and should be more responsive to the needs of the area residents.”
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