After a grueling campaign that lasted until the final minute, Democrat incumbent Lou Gentile has been re-elected to the 30th District’s Ohio Senate seat.
Gentile won 76,164 total votes — about 53 percent — in the district to defeat Republican challenger Shane Thompson, who garnered 68,102 votes — about 47 percent, according to data from the Ohio Secretary of State.
Database glitches in Jefferson County’s vote reporting left the candidates and their supporters waiting for hours into the night before the final results came in.
Since then, Gentile said the first order of business is to focus on the economy and education.
“Creating new jobs and fixing the school funding system have been the two things that I’ve been focusing tirelessly on,” he said. “I’m really proud of the campaign we ran; it was very positive and we talked about all the important issues.”
In the past, Gentile has focused on using natural resources and implanting them to create new jobs, which he intends to do as senator, he said.
“When it comes to education, we really just have to make it a top priority,” Gentile said. “We could have Gov. Kasich put in place a plan that will address education and make sure we’re preparing our young people for the work force. Right now though, I’m not sure exactly what that will be.”
Gentile will make $60,584 as an Ohio senator.
With campaign efforts that began at 5 a.m. Tuesday, Ryan Braglin, campaign manager for the incumbent, said that Ohio voters made the right choice in re-electing Gentile.
“The senator is a person who deeply cares about the working families looking for opportunities for their children and providing higher education,” Braglin said. “Putting the working class first has been one of his top priorities.”
Though the election may be over, Gentile’s tenure is only just beginning as the re-elected candidate to the redrawn 30th District.
“I’d say the choice was clear between the two,” Braglin said. “Lou stands up for people in southeastern Ohio and he will continue to stand up for people like he has in the past.”
Final results for the race will not be released until at least 10 days following the election.
az346610@ohiou.edu
