Ohio CPA/PAC Preferred candidates successful on Election Day

Written on Nov 7, 2024

While most Ohioans were laser-focused on the results of the presidential, U.S. Senate and U.S. House results, numerous state races – many of which were close - were also decided that will impact our state for years to come.

Ohio CPA/PAC’s Board evaluated hundreds of candidates for the Ohio House and Ohio Senate before giving 91 of them PAC Preferred status earlier in the fall. Of those, all but three candidates were successful.

The House and Senate supermajorities were weakened by two seats in each chamber. In the Ohio Senate, Republicans maintained control with a lower 24-9 margin. The Ohio House also saw the Republican numbers go down by two seats to a 65-34 margin. In both the House and Senate, two open seats held by departing Republicans flipped to the Democrat column. Several of these 2024 races were toss ups of longtime OSCPA and business supporters on both sides of the aisle, making OSCPA’s involvement that much more important. Specific results for races OSCPA weighed in on:

Ohio Supreme Court

Three of the seven Ohio Supreme Court slots were on the ballot, and at risk was philosophical control that would impact future decisions. Of most concern: electing Supreme Court justices who make decisions based on the issue at hand, legislative intent and what the Constitution says – not by trying to legislate from the bench.

All three of our Preferred Ohio Supreme Court candidates (Justice Joe Deters, Judge Megan Shanahan and Judge Dan Hawkins) won handily, boosting a fair and impartial majority from 4-3 to 6-1.

Ohio Senate

The 16 CPA/PAC Preferred candidates all won except one: Besa Sharrah lost in the open-seat, central Ohio suburban collar 16^th Senate district. Sharrah suffered the same fate as all other Republicans in Franklin County, which in recent years has seen bedroom communities shift in their political views as more people move outside of strongly Democrat-controlled urban centers. The same shifts are occurring in other large urban areas of Ohio.

Senate results by district (* = incumbent, ** = lost their election)

02 -- Theresa Gavarone*
04 -- George Lang*
08 -- Lou (Bill) Blessing*
10 -- Kyle Koehler
12 -- Susan Manchester
14 -- Terry Johnson*
16 -- Besa Sharrah**
18 -- Jerry Cirino*
20 -- Tim Schaffer*
22 -- Mark Romanchuk*
24 -- Tom Patton
26 -- Bill Reineke*
28 -- Casey Weinstein
30 -- Brian Chavez*
32 -- Sandra O'Brien*
33 -- Al Cutrona*

Ohio House: On the House side, 70 of our 72 Preferred candidates were successful. The only two who didn’t see success on Election night were both running in open seats in central Ohio bedroom communities, including current State Senator Stephanie Kunze (R-Dublin), a longtime legislator and strong supporter of Ohio’s business community, who couldn’t overcome the newly drawn 11^th House district that favored her opponent. New candidate Brian Garvine (R-Grove City) also lost the 10^th House district race.

A key race for OSCPA that saw success was the reelection of State Rep. Bill Roemer (R-Richfield), who ran in a very difficult toss-up race. Roemer is the lone CPA in the Legislature, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, sponsor of numerous commonsense legislative changes impacting state and local taxation as well as CPA licensing matters, and winner of OSCPA’s Outstanding Legislator Award.

House results by district (* = incumbent, ** = lost their election)

07 -- Allison Russo*
10 -- Brian Garvine**
11 -- Stephanie Kunze**
12 -- Brian Stewart*
14 -- Sean Brennan*
15 -- Chris Glassburn
16 -- Bride Rose Sweeney*
17 -- Mike Dovilla
18 -- Juanita Brent*
21 -- Eric Synenberg
22 -- Darnell Brewer*
23 -- Dan Troy*
24 -- Dani Isaacsohn*
29 -- Cindy Abrams*
30 -- Mike Odioso
31 -- Bill Roemer, CPA*
32 -- Jack Daniels*
34 -- Derrick Hall
35 -- Steve Demetriou*
36 -- Andrea White*
37 -- Tom Young*
39 -- Phil Plummer*
40 -- Rodney Creech*
41 -- Erika White
42 -- Elgin Rogers*
43 -- Michele Grim*
44 -- Josh Williams*
46 -- Thomas Hall*
48 -- Scott Oelslager*
49 -- Jim Thomas*
51 -- Jodi Salvo
52 -- Gayle Manning*
53 -- Joe Miller*
54 -- Kellie Deeter
55 -- Michelle Teska
56 -- Adam Mathews*
57 -- Jamie Callender*
59 -- Tex Fischer*
60 -- Brian Lorenz*
61 -- Beth Lear*
62 -- Jean Schmidt*
64 -- Nick Santucci*
65 -- David Thomas
66 -- Sharon Ray*
67 -- Melanie Miller*
68 -- Thad Claggett*
69 -- Kevin Miller*
70 -- Brian Lampton*
71 -- Levi Dean
72 -- Heidi Workman
73 -- Jeff LaRe*
74 -- Bernard Willis*
75 -- Haraz Ghanbari*
76 -- Marilyn John*
77 -- Meredith Craig
78 -- Matt Huffman
79 -- Monica Robb Blasdel*
81 -- Jim Hoops*
82 -- Roy Klopfenstein*
83 -- Ty Mathews
84 -- Angela King*
85 -- Tim Barhorst*
86 -- Tracy Richardson*
87 -- Riordan McClain*
89 -- DJ Swearingen*
90 -- Justin Pizzuli*
91 -- Bob Peterson*
92 -- Mark Johnson*
93 -- Jason Stephens*
94 -- Kevin Ritter
97 -- Adam Holmes*
98 -- Mark Hiner