Precinct-by-precinct numbers detail Republican turnout, victory in commissioners' races

ELYRIA — Lorain County's two largest cities rallied for the Democratic candidates in Tuesday's two races for county commissioner, but it wasn't enough to stem the red tide of Republican voting that took place on Election Day. Commissioners-elect David Moore and Michelle Hung successfully defeated incumbent Commissioners Lori Kokoski and Sharon Sweda, a Democrat appointed to the board nearly two years ago to fill out an unexpired term. The voting gave Republicans a 2-to-1 majority on the county commissioners board for the first time this century. The last Republican commissioner was Tom Williams, who was elected in 2010 but defeated for re-election in 2014 by current Commissioner Matt Lundy. Hung, a North Ridgeville councilwoman at-large, was defeating Kokoski by 76,166 votes to 71,069, or 52 percent to 48 percent, according to incomplete and unofficial results from the Lorain County Board of Elections. Moore, who served a single term on the commissioners board from 2001 to 2005, led Sweda with 75,118 votes to 71,267 votes, or 51 percent to 49 percent, according to incomplete and unofficial results. Some outstanding ballots remain to be counted, so the vote totals could change. An email and a voicemail message seeking comment on Tuesday's victory were left for Moore on Wednesday. Hung's voicemail was full and not accepting messages Wednesday, so a reporter sent her a text message and an email seeking additional comment. Williams, who helped run the pair's joint campaign, said the two candidates were spending time with family Wednesday, and shared some thoughts on how they got elected. "It was 11 months of nonstop campaigning, they were getting their message out and it just felt like they were always on the offense, never really playing any defense and people were encouraged by the message they were sending," he said. Having President Donald Trump at the top of the ticket? "Oh absolutely" that helped drive the Republican vote, Williams said. "Having a popular person and people that are motivated to come out to vote, that's always encouraging and helpful," he said. Williams said he believed that Kokoski's vote to impose a 0.25 percent sales tax in 2016 may have hurt Kokoski's chances. That issue was unpopular among both Republicans and Democrats, he said. A review of precint-by-precinct voting, which was available in a report on the Lorain County Board of Elections website, showed that Democrats fared better in the historic Democratic strongholds of Lorain, Elyria and Oberlin. They also split the voting in several municipalities but failed in large part to garner enough votes to take the county's townships and villages. LORAIN Sweda and Kokoski captured nearly every precinct in Lorain County's largest city and were a safe bet for Democrats. Only precinct 2-E bucked the trend, as Hung and Moore each captured 150 votes there while Kokoski received 144 and Sweda 142. Kokoski, a former Lorain City councilwoman, also lost precinct 8-A by two votes: 561 voters chose Hung and 559 chose Kokoski. ELYRIA Hung prevailed over Kokoski in five Elyria precincts, including 3-D, 3-E, 4-B, 6-D and 7-C — and then only by one vote in two of those, according to incomplete and unofficial results. Sweda won all precincts except 3-D, 3-E, 4-B, and 6-D, and prevailed by 12 votes in 7-C, one of the two in which Kokoski was defeated by a lone vote. The Democrats won Oberlin handily, long a blue island surrounded by the largely red southern Lorain County. It was a different matter elsewhere. Hung and Moore captured Amherst from Kokoski and Sweda, and all of Avon save for precinct 2-C, which the Democrats carried. The Republicans took the vote in all of Avon Lake save for two precincts, 4-A and 4-C. Sweda won Avon Lake precinct 3-B by 13 votes while Kokoski lost there to Hung by nine votes. Republicans swept North Ridgeville. Hung carried every precinct in the city where she has served as an at-large councilwoman for the past three years, and Moore did not lose a single precinct to Sweda. In Sheffield Lake, Hung and Moore took three out of four precincts from Kokoski and Sweda. The lone exception was precinct 2-A, which went blue. Republicans easily won over voters in the portion of Vermilion that votes in Lorain County. Sheffield Township split. Hung took Sheffield Township (North) from Kokoski, but Moore lost it to Sweda. Democrats swept Sheffield Township (West) while Republicans took Sheffield Township (East). Republicans won handily in the townships of Amherst, Brighton, Brownhelm, Camden, Carlisle, Columbia, Eaton, Elyria, Grafton, Henrietta, Huntington, LaGrange, New Russia, Penfield, Pittsfield, Rochester and Wellington, as well as the villages of South Amherst, Kipton, Grafton, LaGrange, Rochester, Sheffield and Wellington. Republicans also gained the county recorder's seat, as incumbent Democrat Judy Nedwick was defeated by challenger Mike Doran, according to incomplete and unofficial results from the Lorain County Board of Elections. Coroner-elect Dr. Frank Miller, a board-certified forensic pathologist, ran uncontested as a Republican for that post, giving the GOP four countywide elected positions when they had only one going into Tuesday's election — Miller's predecessor, Dr. Stephen Evans, who declined to run for re-election. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com. Follow him @daveobrienCT on Twitter.