Incumbent State Rep. Debbie Phillips, D-Albany, looked across Court Street toward the Athens County Board of Elections just as cars carrying loads of ballots bearing her name rolled in Tuesday night.
“I love election night,” she said. “I really enjoy the process. I like being able to go out and talk to people and hear their concerns.”
Later that night, those same ballots would declare her the winner of a tight race for 94th District State Representative. She was re-elected by fewer› than 200 votes.
Of the 28,436 votes cast across the four-county district, Phillips reeled in 14,315, to Washington County Republican Yolan Dennis’ 14,121.
Phillips spent her day travelling Southeast Ohio talking to voters, before ending her night at the Pigskin Bar and Grille.
“It felt good,” said Amy Lipka, Phillips’ campaign manager. “I think people have been really positive.”
Meanwhile, Dennis, a nurse from Warren Township, met with fellow Republicans at the Republican headquarters in Marietta.
After preliminary results showed a small difference in votes for Phillips and Dennis, Athens County Democratic Party Chair Alan Trout said Phillips losing would be “an absolute catastrophe for Southeast Ohio.”
Dennis said at about 10:30 p.m. she wasn’t ready to concede the election quite yet.
“We’ve worked really hard,” she said. “I have no regrets. I’m just really glad for the people who have been there supporting me.”
She said she hasn’t decided whether she’ll run again in the next election, but she wants to keep in touch with voters in the district.
Phillips will be in a House committee meeting in Columbus at the Ohio Statehouse Wednesday morning.
“We have a lot of work to do,” she said. “For me, it’s a chance to continue.”
Phillips earns $78,668 annually as Assistant Minority Leader in the Ohio House, but Dennis would’ve made about $60,500.
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