Swearingen wins Ohio House race

SANDUSKY — State Rep. D.J. Swearingen won the Republican primary for the 89th Ohio House district, turning aside a challenge from Steve Kraus. With about 95% of the votes in at about 11:15 p.m., unofficial totals showed Swearingen with about 65% of the vote against Kraus' 35%. In Erie County, with all of the precincts reporting, unofficial results showed that Swearingen won 4,402 votes, about 64%, versus 2,481 votes for Kraus. Swearingen will face Democrat Alicia Roshong in the November election. The 89th District includes Erie and Ottawa counties and a small portion of Huron County. In Huron County, Kellie Deeter won a decisive victory over Anthony Savage in the Ohio House District 54 primary. Deeter, who captured about 73% of the vote, will face Democrat Brenda Buchanan in a race for a district that includes much of Huron County and part of Lorain County. Swearingen responded to his victory by thanking the voters. "Thank you to the Republicans of the 89th Ohio House District for selecting me as your nominee. This is about the people of the 89th House District and working for them. We need to secure our state from the southern border, keep working to improve our local community, which includes better roadway connection to central Ohio, and bringing more jobs to our district," he told the Register. Swearingen, 36, was appointed to the Ohio House in 2019, replacing Steve Arndt, who had retired. Swearingen then won reelection in 2020 and 2022, defeating Democratic opponents in each contest. Swearingen is an attorney in private practice. He and his wife, Angela, have three daughters and live in Huron. He's the former chairman of the Erie County Republican Party. Kraus had hoped to reclaim his former Ohio House. He won an upset victory in 2014 against former state Rep. Chris Redfern, a Democrat, switching a longtime Democratic seat into the Republican Party column, but was unseated in 2015 after a felony theft conviction in Ottawa County. The primary contest included mailers sent out by outside groups that attacked each candidate, with one group claiming that Swearingen leaned Democrat. The group attacking Kraus, backed by current House Speaker Jason Stephens, brought up his felony conviction. Swearingen has had a generally conservative voting record, however, and the attempt to redefine him evidently failed. Deeter, the victor in the Huron County race, is a certified registered nurse anesthetist, a nurse practitioner, and local small-business owner. She owns Firelands Anesthesia in Willard and Firelands Medispa. Unofficial results late Tuesday also appeared to show that Paloma De La Fuente captured enough write-in votes to win the Democratic nomination for Ohio Senate District 2, a district that includes Erie and Ottawa counties. De La Fuente will face the incumbent, state Sen. Theresa Gavarone, R-Huron, in the general election.