COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - The Latest on Ohio’s primary election (all times local):
10:27 p.m.
A fourth-term state representative from western Ohio has won the Republican nomination for state treasurer.
GOP state Rep. Robert Sprague (sprayg), of Findlay, prevailed Tuesday over former Ashtabula (ash-tuh-BYOO’-luh) County Auditor Sandra O’Brien.
The conservative O’Brien defeated Treasurer Jennette Bradley in the 2006 Republican primary, before losing that fall to Democrat Richard Cordray.
Sprague campaigned on continuing the fiscal transparency efforts of incumbent Treasurer Josh Mandel (man-DEHL’), a term-limited Republican.
Srague also says he wants to extend financial literacy education to soon-to-be college students facing heavy debt, push greater use of STABLE accounts for people with disabilities and standardize and promote the use of social impact bonds.
Sprague faces Democratic former University of Cincinnati board chairman Rob Richardson Jr. in November.
10:19 p.m.
A former Ohio State University football star has won the Republican nomination to succeed Rep. Jim Renacci (ruh-NAY’-cee) in Ohio’s U.S. House District 16.
Renacci’s northeast Ohio seat is coming open because of his run for U.S. Senate.
Former Buckeyes and Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Anthony Gonzalez won a three-way primary with state Rep. Christina Hagan and physician Michael Grusenmeyer. Both Hagan and Gonzalez aligned themselves with the Republican president on issues such as building a border wall.
10: 16 p.m.
A former international relief worker backed by U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown has won the Democratic nomination to challenge Republican U.S. Steve Stivers this fall.
The 51-year-old political newcomer Rick Neal, of Columbus, easily bested high school government teacher Rob Jarvis, of Nelsonville, on Tuesday. Neal had backing in the central Ohio race of party heavyweights Brown, former Gov. Ted Strickland and U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan.
Stivers, a fourth-term incumbent with nearly $2 million in the bank in preparation for the fall contest.
Neal will take on Stivers the congressman’s vote to repeal the federal Affordable Health Care Act. He supports a $15 minimum wage and economic development tied to development of advanced digital infrastructure.
10:14 p.m.
Franklin County Recorder Danny O’Connor has won the Democratic primary for the central Ohio congressional seat formerly held by Republican Pat Tiberi.
The chance at a rare opening in Ohio’s 12th congressional district attracted seven Democrats into the race.
Democrat Conor Lamb’s razor-thin victory earlier in March in a Pennsylvania congressional district that heavily supported GOP President Donald Trump is buoying Democrats’ hopes they can take control of the Ohio district.
The district had been controlled by Republicans for 35 years when Tiberi retired in January. Tiberi was among a group of establishment Republicans who left office or announced their retirements from Congress under Trump. Many of the districts, like Tiberi’s, are solidly Republican but are now seen as politically vulnerable.
9:44 p.m.
A married Ohio state lawmaker has bested a Republican primary opponent who sought to exploit their exchange of sexual text messages to win his seat.
State Rep. Rick Perales (peh-RAH’-lihs), of Beavercreek, defeated Jocelyn Smith in the GOP contest for the Dayton area’s 73rd House District on Tuesday. He faces Democratic challenger Kim McCarthy, of Xenia, in November.
Perales acknowledged having a brief, consensual relationship in 2015 with Smith. He described it as “flirtatious.”
Smith is a nurse from Fairborn. She shared some of the texts after kicking off her campaign. She demanded Perales resign or face more revelations. He refused and filed an extortion charge against her. The charge is pending.
Then-House Speaker Cliff Rosenberger had been told of the exchanges and urged Smith to contact law enforcement.
9:50 p.m.
A former House speaker aspiring to lead the chamber again has won his contentious and expensive primary.
Republican state Rep. Larry Householder, of Glenford, prevailed over challenger Kevin J. Black in the GOP primary for Ohio’s 72nd House District, in southeast Ohio.
Householder was among about a dozen Republican state representatives who faced contested primaries as he and state Rep. Ryan Smith, of Bidwell, vied to line up support for the next speakership.
Householder and PACs for and against his candidacy spent over $1 million in a rural area unaccustomed to such spending. Householder filed a defamation suit against two groups over early ads. He had a campaign ad in which he appeared in camouflage brandishing a rifle.
Householder faces Democrat Tyler Shipley, of Buckeye Lake, in November.
9:38 p.m.
U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci (ruh-NAY’-see) has won the Republican primary to challenge Democratic U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown in Ohio this fall.
Renacci had the backing of President Donald Trump ahead of Tuesday’s five-way contest. Also in the race were Cleveland investment banker Mike Gibbons, Marysville small-business owner Melissa Ackison, Cincinnati-area financial management company founder Daniel Kiley and retired public administrator Don Elijah Eckhart, from Galloway.
Renacci started out running for governor but said he switched to the Senate race with White House encouragement after Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel (man-DEL’) withdrew for personal reasons.
Gibbons is also a Trump supporter and already was in the Senate race when Renacci entered. Gibbons has sued the congressman alleging false and defamatory statements, including that Gibbons is anti-Trump.
Renacci’s campaign discounted that lawsuit as “sad and desperate.”
9:22 p.m.
Veteran Republican Ohio congressman Steve Chabot (SHAH’-but) has won his party’s nomination as he seeks a 12th term.
The west-side Cincinnati congressman handily defeated Samuel Ronan in Tuesday’s vote.
Chabot faces a tougher challenge in November in the traditionally Republican 1st District. Democrats rallied around Hamilton County Clerk of Courts Aftab Pureval (PYUR’-vahl) for their congressional nomination after his surprise county victory in 2016.
Chabot lost to Democrat Steve Driehaus (DREE’-hows) in 2008 as Barack Obama won the presidency but took the seat back from Driehaus in 2010. Redistricting has since added conservative Warren County to the district.
Ronan described himself as an Air Force veteran who wanted to help the working class by pushing for universal health care and education.
8:58 p.m.
Two veteran Ohio congressmen have won three-way Republican primaries.
Bob Gibbs won the 7th District primary and will seek a fifth term in November.
Mike Turner won his 10th District primary and will seek a ninth term in November.
8:50 p.m.
Ohio voters have overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment that will change the way the battleground state draws congressional districts.
Issue 1 on state ballots Tuesday had support from both Democrats and Republicans and faced virtually no organized opposition.
The proposal was modeled after new map-making rules for Ohio legislative districts that voters strongly supported in 2016.
The latest proposal aims to curb gerrymandering, the partisan manipulation of political boundaries that’s seen as a cause of partisanship, gridlock and incivility in Washington.
The amendment limits how counties are split into multiple districts and requires more support from the minority party to put a 10-year map in place.
If lawmakers can’t agree, an existing bipartisan commission will take over. If that fails, the majority party can pass a shorter-term map.
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8:35 p.m.
Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine has won the Republican primary for governor, sending one of the state’s best-known politicians into the fall contest to succeed term-limited Republican Gov. John Kasich (KAY’-sik).
DeWine’s victory Tuesday leaves him damaged from a bitter and nasty primary in which Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor likened him to Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton and questioned his loyalty to President Donald Trump.
The 71-year-old DeWine is a moderate Republican who served two terms in the U.S. Senate. But Taylor forced him to tack to the right to win the GOP nomination.
DeWine was endorsed by the Ohio Republican Party and was bolstered by his partnership with Republican Secretary of State Jon Husted (HYOO’-sted), who dropped his own governor bid to become DeWine’s running mate.
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8:30 p.m.
Obama-era consumer agency head Richard Cordray has won the Democratic nomination for Ohio governor despite a surprisingly rigorous challenge from former U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich (koo-SIH’-nich).
Tuesday’s win by the former consumer watchdog under President Barack Obama buoys Democratic hopes of reclaiming control of a critical battleground state, where Republican Gov. John Kasich (KAY’-sik) is term-limited.
Cordray led the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau under Obama and President Donald Trump. He featured Obama in his ads and campaigned with Massachusetts U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who created the bureau.
Kucinich is a feisty former nine-term congressman and Cleveland mayor who energized voters with an anti-gun, pro-environment platform. He attacked Cordray as an “establishment Democrat” willing to compromise his principles to special interests.
A state senator and a former Ohio Supreme Court justice also competed.
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7:30 p.m.
The polls have closed in Ohio, where voters are choosing Democratic and Republican nominees who will vie for the governor and U.S. Senate in this fall’s general election.
Polls throughout Ohio closed at 7:30 p.m. Voters on Tuesday also decided a number of unusually competitive congressional and state legislative seats.
In addition to those races, voters cast ballots on a bipartisan redistricting proposal that would change how congressional districts are drawn. The effort is aimed at reducing the partisan manipulation of maps known as gerrymandering.
Absentee voting is up compared with the 2014 midterm election, the secretary of state’s office said.
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12:35 p.m.
The secretary of state’s office says no major problems were reported early Tuesday as Ohioans cast ballots in a primary election that includes picking Republican and Democratic nominees for governor.
Voting was steady Tuesday with no long lines reported by late morning.
Elections chief Jon Husted (HYOO’-sted) says absentee voting is up from the same time four years ago.
Four main Democrats and two Republicans are running for governor. Voters also are choosing a Republican U.S. Senate candidate and deciding some unusually competitive congressional and state legislative seats.
It made for one of Ohio’s most expensive, nasty and unpredictable primary seasons in recent memory.
Also on the ballot is a proposal to change how congressional districts are drawn. That is aimed at reducing gerrymandering, or the partisan manipulation of maps.
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12:05 a.m.
One of Ohio’s most expensive, nasty and unpredictable primary seasons in recent memory is headed to a nail-biting conclusion.
Voters on Tuesday will pick Republican and Democratic nominees for governor, a Republican U.S. Senate candidate and decide a host of unusually competitive congressional and state legislative seats.
There also is a redistricting proposal backed by both parties on statewide ballots. Issue 1 would amend Ohio’s constitution to change the way congressional districts are drawn. The effort is aimed at reducing the partisan manipulation of maps known as gerrymandering.
Primaries also are in store for a GOP state treasurer nominee and in the open congressional races to succeed retired U.S. Rep. Pat Tiberi (TEE’-behr-ee) and U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci (reh-NAY’-see).
Four main Democrats are seeking Ohio’s governorship, as are two Republicans.
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