Thad Claggett ousts Mark Fraizer in delayed Licking County GOP primary for Ohio House

NEWARK — For the second consecutive election, Newark Republicans Mark Fraizer and Thad Claggett battled for an Ohio House seat in a delayed primary election.

This time, however, Claggett emerged victorious, securing 58% of the vote with an historic low turnout in a rare second primary election for the 68th Ohio House District. Claggett received 3,993 votes to 2,892 for Fraizer, according to final unofficial results from the Licking County Board of Elections.

In the 2020 campaign, COVID delayed the 71st Ohio House District election, which Fraizer won by 307 votes, with 51.4% to 48.6% for Claggett.

Ohio House race: Fraizer, Claggett battle in nasty Republican primary

This year, the Ohio House candidates did not appear on the May primary ballots due to the Ohio Supreme Court's invalidation of the redistricting plan. On June 24, the Ohio Supreme Court of Ohio issued a court order permitting additional candidates to appear on the ballot for Tuesday’s election, the normal date for special elections.

“I believe I’m more representative of where the county is," Claggett said. "I'm a practical guy that gets things done."

Claggett, 51, president of Claggett & Sons, Inc., a Newark commercial contracting company in business 68 years, has also served as president of the Licking County Library Board. He said prior to the polls closing, he could not predict how a low turnout would affect the result.

“We know it’ll be a very small turnout," Claggett said hours before the polls closed. "We didn’t spend much money on polling. I’m not enough of an elections expert to sort that out. We feel like we had a plan and executed the plan. We ran a good race and I'm very comfortable with that. Anything’s possible.”

The new 68th District covers much of the same area as its predecessor, the 71st District. The new district is located mostly in the northwest, central and western parts of the county, including Newark, Heath, Granville, almost all of Pataskala, Alexandria, Johnstown, Hartford and St. Louisville.

In 2020, 11,055 voters cast ballots in the Claggett-Fraizer race. This time, with an overall Licking County turnout under 10%, the same candidates received a total of 6,885 votes.

Fraizer said the low turnout did have an impact on the outcome.

“I’m really proud of the campaign we ran," Fraizer said. "Ultimately, you want to motivate the people who want to vote for you. I’m happy with the people who took the time to turn out. Some people were not aware it was Election Day.”

Fraizer, 34, received a Republican Party appointment to the Ohio House in 2019, filling the unexpired term of State Rep. Scott Ryan. Then, he won a two-year term which concludes at the end of the year.

The incumbent said Claggett's campaign tactics also contributed to a different result in the rematch.

“I want to say congratulations to my opponent," Fraizer said. "I’m not happy with the kind of race he ran. Outside PAC groups, negative campaigning, dark money groups such as Americans for Prosperity. Clearly, it was very effective.”

Claggett said voters remembered former House speaker Larry Householder's support for Fraizer and the 2020 radio and television ads attacking Claggett.

Two years ago, a House Republican Campaign Committee paid for ads alleging Claggett's company received millions in taxpayer money from a civil lawsuit it filed 14 years ago over a school renovation contract at Career and Technology Education Centers of Licking County.

Claggett said at the time, "Not one word of what they are accusing me of is even remotely true."

This election, Claggett said, those ads were not forgotten.

"Everywhere I went, I heard (about that)," Claggett said. "That was so repulsive and we reminded people of that. And, we reminded them of his ties to Householder. Householder trashed me. I felt it was such an unfair election last time.”

Claggett said polls showed him ahead by 20 points on the original 2020 primary election night of March 17. But, with the election delayed until April 28 due to COVID, the ensuing attack ads made all the difference.

No Democrat filed to run for the Ohio House seat.

kmallett@newarkadvocate.com

740-328-8545

Twitter: @kmallett1958

This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Claggett wins rematch against Fraizer in delayed primary for Ohio House