The candidates for Ohio’s 12th Congressional District seat have been determined, with incumbent Troy Balderson (R) and Alaina Shearer (D) winning their respective party’s nomination in Tuesday’s primary election.
The Democratic race was the closer of the two, with Shearer defeating Jenny Bell. The Delaware County Board of Elections unofficial results were Shearer with 7,804 votes (58%) and Bell with 5,548 votes (42%). That margin was similar over the district’s 606 total precincts, the Associated Press noted. Shearer received 32,546 votes (59%) and Bell received 22,870 votes (41%).
On her Twitter campaign account, Shearer said, “Yes, Ohio!!! We did it!!! Now on to 11/3 and defeating @troybalderson so the people of OH-12 can reclaim their power by electing a representative who will fight for the issues we can no longer afford to ignore. To our voters, volunteers & fellow candidates. #thankyou.”
Shearer was born and raised in Delaware and lives in Liberty Township. Her campaign website states, “Prior to founding a digital agency in 2009, Alaina earned two Associated Press awards for her work as a radio journalist on WTVN and WNCI in Columbus. Most recently, in 2016, Alaina founded a national women’s association for women in tech and digital professions.”
In Delaware County, the unofficial results for the Republican Party were with all 165 precincts reporting, incumbent Balderson won in a landslide with 14,413 votes (85%), while challenger Tim Day had 2,516 votes (15%).
The overall total was by a similar margin, with AP reporting that Balderson received 47,903 total votes (84%) and Day received 9,060 votes (16%).
On Wednesday, Balderson tweeted, “THANK YOU to all my supporters! Together, we’ll keep #OH12 red and keep working for Ohio values, jobs, and economic prosperity. For now, stay safe everyone! We’ll get through this time together and work to become stronger than before. #InThisTogetherOhio.”
Balderson, from Muskingum County, worked on the family’s farm and auto dealership prior to entering politics. His website states he “currently serves on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee; House Science, Space, and Technology Committee; as well as the House Small Business Committee and its Innovation and Workforce Subcommittee, for which he serves as Ranking Member.”
Ohio’s 12th Congressional District consists of Delaware, Licking and Morrow counties, along portions of Franklin, Marion, Muskingum and Richland counties. It is described as central Ohio and the north Columbus suburbs.
Also running against Balderson and Shearer in the Nov. 3 general election is Libertarian Party candidate John Stewart. He had 25 write-in votes in Tuesday’s primary in Delaware County. He will be a write-in candidate in November.
