The voter leaves the polling station. (Photo: Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images)
Tuesday’s tight Republican primary tested the strength of support among senior Republicans at the state and federal levels, with former Ohio House of Representatives member Jay Edwards ultimately edging out incumbent state Sen. Kristina Roegner in unofficial results.
Both candidates received high-profile endorsements, with Roegner being endorsed by Vivek Ramaswamy, the Republican candidate for governor, and Edwards touting the support of Republican Vice President J.D. Vance.
During her primary campaign, Roegner touted her experience and her goal of maintaining financial discipline and returning money to Ohioans from unclaimed state funds, rather than allowing them to be used to fund sports stadiums, as lawmakers had promised.
Late Tuesday night, Roegner congratulated Edwards and said it was significant for Ohio to remain “on a strong fiscal path.”
“Ohio Republicans remain united in our commitment to responsible government, strong economic growth and protecting the hard-earned tax dollars of Ohio families,” Roegner said in a statement.
Edwards capitalized on his campaign by promising to bring “young energy” to the Ohio Treasurer’s Office and assist sustain the “Trump Republican Party.”
While he said the pledge to apply unclaimed funds for sports facilities “could have been spent in a better way,” he said he wasn’t opposed to the idea “if we can afford it and if we’ve checked all the other boxes.”
Edwards will face Democrat Seth Walsh, a community organizer in Cincinnati, in the Nov. 3 general election. Walsh was unopposed in the primary.
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