What happened during Ohio's bonus primary election

Roxanne Mackei of Columbus checks in to vote at United Methodist Church in Hilliard during Tuesday's primary election.
Roxanne Mackei of Columbus checks in to vote at United Methodist Church in Hilliard during Tuesday's primary election.

It's an extra cup of coffee kind of day for those who worked Tuesday's election.

Ohio held a second primary yesterday for state legislative and central committee races. Republican leaders sparred for months with the Ohio Supreme Court over new maps for state House and Senate seats, which ultimately pushed those contests from May to August.

The primary elections for U.S. Senate, Congress and governor proceeded in May, so Ohioans got to vote twice. Or, more accurately, many of them ignored the second one. Here are some highlights:

1) Turnout was low. Like really low. It failed to clear 8% of registered voters, according to preliminary results from the Ohio Secretary of State's office. Election officials pretty much expected this; most people are on vacation or otherwise tuned out this time of year.

By contrast, 21% of voters participated in the May primary.

2) A bad night for Ohio's first female attorney general. Betty Montgomery lost her bid for GOP state central committee in Licking County to Sabrina Warner, the owner of a burger and milkshake restaurant. Warner won with 53% of the vote, according to unofficial results.

3) A win for diversity. At least one Somali-American is likely heading to the statehouse after yesterday's primary. Columbus-area voters chose Munira Abdullahi for an open seat in the heavily Democratic House District 9.

Another Somali-American may join Abdullahi. Ismail Mohamed, a refugee who came to the U.S. as a child, holds a very narrow lead over Kelly Harrop in District 3.

No Somali-American has ever served in the Ohio Legislature.

Anna Staver has more on the election here.

Who runs the (energy) world?

No one has exerted more influence over Ohio's energy policy than Sam Randazzo.

The former head of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio had his hands in just about everything, including the details of House Bill 6 and federal policy that threatened to upend the nuclear plant bailout. Akron-based FirstEnergy has admitted it took advantage of Randazzo's role.

A new batch of records subpoenaed by the FBI as part of the House Bill 6 investigation shows how instrumental Randazzo was. Jessie Balmert and Laura Bischoff read thousands of pages so you don't have to and broke down the key takeaways.

Heath Robinson, of Pickerington, died from cancer in 2020 after being exposed to toxic smoke from trash burning pits during his deployment to the Middle East.
Heath Robinson, of Pickerington, died from cancer in 2020 after being exposed to toxic smoke from trash burning pits during his deployment to the Middle East.

Ohio veteran at center of burn-pit bill

A bill that will expand benefits for veterans who are exposed to toxic burn pits is heading to President Joe Biden's desk.

The measure is named for Pickerington native and former Sgt. First Class Heath Robinson, who died in 2020 after battling lung cancer that he attributed to smoke exposure in Iraq. Robinson's wife, Danielle, attended Biden's State of the Union address earlier this year, and the president called on lawmakers to get the bill done.

It had a rocky path to passage. A group of GOP senators, including Sen. Rob Portman, unexpectedly derailed a procedural vote last week because they wanted to tweak part of it. Advocates, including Jon Stewart and Robinson's mother-in-law, protested outside the U.S. Capitol until the Senate passed the bill yesterday.

Meanwhile, Ohio Senate candidate J.D. Vance said he hasn't paid much attention to all of this.

"If veterans are exposed to toxic injuries, we should be taking care of them," he told reporters at the Ohio State Fair. "The specific legislation, I'd be lying if I said I knew anything about it, other than it took care of veterans, which is a good idea to me."

Thanks as always for hanging out and subscribing to The Dispatch!

Haley BeMiller, political reporter

Questions or story ideas? Email me at hbemiller@dispatch.com. You can find me on Twitter @haleybemiller.

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: What happened during Ohio's bonus primary election