CLEVELAND — Ohio's controversial redistricting process led to not only new maps, but a second primary election due to continued court battles over the legitimacy of the boundaries. The changes led some General Assembly candidates to reconsider where they would run, and in Cuyahoga County, two incumbent Statehouse members were pitted against each other.
When the ballots were all counted, Rep. Bride Rose Sweeney had defeated Rep. Monique Smith for the Democratic nomination in Ohio's 16th House District. The result marks the end of a long battle caused by both the mapmaking process and infighting among some party leaders.
RELATED: Full Northeast Ohio election results
Most of the new district on the west side of the county had been part of the old 17th District, which Smith flipped from Republican control in 2020. Ohio House Minority Leader Allison Russo had reportedly wanted Smith to stay in the new 17th (where her Fairview Park residence remained) and go against Rep. Tom Patton, but Smith refused and went to the 16th to go against Sweeney, and disagreements between the two sides boiled over on Twitter back in June.
The new district includes cities like Bay Village and Westlake, and 56% of Democratic voters chose Sweeney as their nominee. A two-term state representative and daughter of former Cleveland City Council President and State Rep. Martin J. Sweeney, she will face former Cleveland and Shaker Heights police officer Michael Lamb in the November general election.
For her part, Smith conceded defeat early Wednesday morning and congratulated Sweeney on her victory, vowing to help her win a third term this fall.
Elsewhere in Cuyahoga County, there were two notable Ohio Senate primaries. Eastward in the 21st District, term-limited 8th District state Rep. Kent Smith defeated former Rep. John E. Barnes Jr. 62%-38%, and the 55-year-old Euclid native will face Republican and technical consultant Mikhail Alterman in the general.
Further west in the GOP's 13th District race, North Ridgeville Sen. Nathan Manning held off a challenge from Amherst resident and state board of education member Kirsten Hill, who coordinated a bus trip to the infamous "Stop the Steal" rally on Jan. 6, 2021 (she insisted she did not take part in the storming of the U.S. Capitol). Manning easily bested Hill with two-thirds of the vote and will go up against Democratic nominee Anthony Eliopoulos, a former aide to U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown.