CINCINNATI -- If politics is a game, it's backgammon played in the dark with homebrew rules and a ticking bomb under the table: As high-stakes as it is frustrating and hard to understand. Winners and losers can be tough to pick out amid the daily ebb and flow of gossip, feuding and grandiose promises.
That's why elections can be nice. Twice a year, some people win and some people lose. Definitively.
Here are the winners of Tuesday's most important primary elections around Greater Cincinnati.
Richard Cordray and Mike DeWine. One will lose to the other in November, but tonight the men celebrated earning their parties’ nominations for governor of Ohio. Cordray, a Democrat and former Obama administration official, will enter the electoral ring opposite Ohio Attorney General DeWine, a Republican.
Greg Pence. His brother is vice president of the United States, but the eldest of six Pence siblings preferred owning antique malls to politics until he announced a 2018 run for Congress. He earned his party’s nomination and could sit in the House of Representative next year if he beats Democratic challenger Jeannine Lake for the Sixth House District seat.
Rep. Jim Renacci. Bolstered by the backing of President Donald Trump, Renacci won the Republican nomination for the Ohio Senate seat currently occupied by Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown.
Sherrod Brown won, too -- by default. The self-styled working class champion had no opponents in his own party’s primary.
Fiona and friends. As usual, watch the queen conquer. Hamilton County approved a five-year renewal of a tax levy that provides around $6.55 million to the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden each year. Although it’s a significant sum, zoo director Thane Maynard had hoped for more when he campaigned earlier this year to raise the levy amount.
Public libraries. Voters in Hamilton County also approved a levy to fund renovations at various branches of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County. The tax will generate an anticipated $17 million annually and allow the library to make all its branches handicap accessible.
Anti-gerrymandering legislation. To call 2018’s political climate fraught is an understatement, but this issue drew broad support from both Democrats and Republicans across Ohio. The passage of Issue 1 aims to reduce gerrymandering, the practice of drawing congressional districts in a way that disproportionately benefits one political party, by requiring any Ohio redistricting to pass with some bipartisan approval.
