Daugherty claims auditor's race, Balderson representing Coshocton County again

COSHOCTON − For the first time in many years, a Republican will be Coshocton County auditor.

Incumbent Democrat Christine Sycks was challenged by Republican Grant Daugherty. Sycks received 4,648 votes and Daugherty had 6,563 votes, in unofficial vote totals from the Coshocton County Board of Elections from Tuesday's general election.

Sycks has worked in the auditor's office for 34 years. She was appointed auditor in 2012, upon the retirement of Sandy Corder. Sycks won election to the unexpired term that fall and was then re-elected to the position in 2014 and 2018. Sycks knew with Coshocton County leaning Republican she was going to have a tough fight.

"While the outcome isn't what I hoped, I knew this outcome was a real possibility in a county like we have," Sycks said. "I'm going to miss my job, but I know there are good things around the corner."

Sycks said she's most proud of having been able to help people throughout her tenure in the auditor's office.

"I think I've brought more transparency and more accessibility to my office over the years," Sycks said.

Daugherty is a former Coshocton County commissioner and fiscal officer for Millcreek Township. He lost a previous bid for auditor in 2010. He currently serves on the Coshocton County Republican Central Committee. Daugherty said he was humbled by the amount of support he received.

"I'm grateful they thought I could do the job and thankful they elected me," Daugherty said of the voters.

Immediate goals in office include evaluating the automated phone system as Daugherty believes a live person should answer the phone when someone calls. He also wants the office to be more user-friendly for those coming into it.

"I'll probably look at property values a little closer and try to get them more fair than they have been in the past. That's my biggest goal right there," Daugherty said.

Unchallenged locally were incumbent Republicans Gary Fischer for Coshocton County commissioner and Robert Batchelor for judge of Coshocton County Common Pleas Court. Fischer had 9,515 votes and Batchelor received 9,191 votes, in unofficial vote totals.

There are 22,379 voters in Coshocton County and voter turnout was a bit over half with 11,342 votes being cast in unofficial vote totals from the board of elections.

State and federal races

On the state level, Coshocton County will be represented by Darrel Kick of Loudonville in the Ohio House of Representatives and Andrew Brenner of Delaware in the Ohio Senate. Both have visited Coshocton County and met with local officials to discuss the top issues facing the county. Brenner defeated Democrat Heather Swiger in the District 19 race and Kick defeated write-in candidate Annie Homestad to represent District 98.

Brenner and Kick are picking up Coshocton County due to redistricting this past year. The county is also getting new representation in the U.S. House of Representatives via Troy Balderson of Zanesville. Balderson started his political career in 2009 representing Coshocton County as part of District 94 in the Ohio House of Representatives.

Balderson was appointed to the Ohio Senate to represent District 20 in 2011 and was appointed to the U.S. House of Representatives to represent District 12 in 2018. He defeated Democrat Amy Rippel-Elton in Tuesday's general election.

Balderson said he's happy to represent Coshocton County again and feels the connections he made before will be helpful. He's already met with some local officials and entities and has more meetings planned.

"We're going to make sure the people in Coshocton County know how to get hold of us, know who we are and know we're going to work hard for them," Balderson said. "Have those relationships from the past is helpful and I'm going to build off that and work hard."

Looking at Coshocton County and his district as a whole, Balderson said his top priorities will be energy independence and workforce development.

"We're going to work on getting this country back on track and meet the needs of the people of the 12th Congressional District," Balderson said.

Leonard Hayhurst is a community content coordinator and general news reporter for the Coshocton Tribune with close to 15 years of local journalism experience and multiple awards from the Ohio Associated Press. He can be reached at 740-295-3417 or llhayhur@coshoctontribune.com. Follow him on Twitter at @llhayhurst.

This article originally appeared on Coshocton Tribune: Daugherty claims auditor's race, Balderson representing county again