Summit County will feature many rare, competitive primary races in 2024 Ohio House races

Interest among Democrats is surging in Summit County ahead of the Dec. 20 filing deadline for the 2024 Ohio House primary races.

Two developments have stirred excitement on the left.

The announcement that Rep. Casey Weinstein of Hudson is running for the Ohio Senate instead of a fourth term has, so far, drawn two fellow Democrats – Akron School Board President Derrick Hall and Summit County Progressive Democrats President Nathan Jarosz – into a now-open primary for the 34th House district.

And Rep. Tavia Galonski, D-Akron, is the only Democrat talking with party leadership about replacing Summit County Clerk of Courts Sandra Kurt, who will vacate her office in January after making history last week as the first Democrat elected clerk of the Akron Municipal Court.

Kurt is taking a pay cut for the chance to modernize the Akron court, which handles civil and criminal cases for defendants and plaintiffs in several suburban communities. Her political success also allows her party to deepen and elevate its roster of local candidates.

If the Summit County Democratic Central Committee picks Galonski to serve out the last year of Kurt’s county term, Galonski’s 33rd House District, which stretches from Fairlawn to Ellet, will be up for grabs.

Akron Councilman Donnie Kammer of Firestone Park is interested. He’s developed a “good relationship” with Galonski in the past six years but, in hindsight, said he should have run in 2018 when the seat was last open. His campaign will decide by Dec. 1 on a run, he said.

There’s also talk that Summit County Council President Veronica Sims, president of the Black Elected Officials Summit County, will throw her hat in that race. Sims, who could not be reached for comment, filed to run in the 33rd District last year until the final round of GOP-led redistricting put her and other Democrats in Galonski’s district. Sims and the other Democrats opted not to oppose Galonski.

Galonski said she’s not ready to comment on whether she'll file for reelection to the House by Dec. 20. Multiple party members said she’s circulating petitions for the Summit County Clerk of Courts race, which, even if appointed in January, she would have to win in the March primary and November general election in 2024.

Big hopes on the left for the Ohio 31st District

Redistricting shifted the 31st Ohio House District south. Wrapping around Akron and Fairlawn, it still includes Peninsula, Boston Heights, Bath, Richfield, Copley, Norton and Barberton. But it’s the addition of Cuyahoga Falls that’s injected enough liberal voters into the district to give Democrats the hope of capturing it after decades of Republican control.

“On the Democrat side, there’s potential for a pickup there,” Summit County Democratic Party Chairman Tom Bevan said of the 31st House District. “It’ll be one of the most hotly contested races in the state.”

Cuyahoga Falls School Board Member AJ Harris, who lost a 2020 Ohio House primary race, will face Ryan Shank, membership director for the Summit County Young Democrats. Other Democrats have until Dec. 20 to announce their candidacies.

On the Republican side, Rep. Bill Roemer of Richfield appears to have no competition at this point. Barberton Councilman Thomas “Bebe” Heitic was considered challenging Roemer. The two Republicans sat down and agreed that cannibalizing their campaign resources would not be in the best interests of their party.

Roemer will be running for his fourth and final term in the Ohio House, defending a newly drawn district that’s voted slightly more liberal than conservative in many recent statewide elections.

“If he does pull it off, with him being term limited, two years from that, I will definitely be in that mix,” Heitic said, wishing Roemer well in 2024 and setting his sights on 2026.

In the meantime, Heitic is celebrating gains in the Magic City. He and another councilman were the first Republicans in four decades to win seats in 2019 on a council that will be majority Republican in January following the November election.

The GOP, however, hasn't got much to celebrate anywhere else in Summit County after Tuesday's election. As Bevan pointed out, 84 of the 102 Democrats on the ballot won, which includes races with no competition.

Bevan is hoping a Democrat will step forward in the northernmost communities of Summit County, which were redrawn into the 35th House District held by first-term Rep. Steve Demetriou, R-Bainbridge. The 35th, which includes northwest Portage County and Southwest Geauga County, leans Republican.

The last House district in Summit County is the 32nd. Vacated by former Rep. Bob Young, who’s since been convicted of domestic violence, there are no clear candidates on the left in the primary for this seat. New Franklin City Councilman Jack Daniels was recommended by the county party to replace Young, who initially rebuffed demands by his own party to resign from the seat amid the unfolding scandal.

The 32nd House District leans further right than any other in Summit County.

Reach reporter Doug Livingston at dlivingston@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3792.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Summit Democrats scramble in primaries for winnable Ohio House seats