Trish Bennett, Editor
CIRCLEVILLE – Democrat John Ankrom will now face Republican incumbent Brian Stewart in the November general election for a seat on the Pickaway County Board of Commissioners after winning the Democratic primary on Tuesday.
The unofficial results show Ankrom winning the primary with 1,787 votes (52.39 percent) over challenger Keith Peters with 1,624 votes (47.61 percent).
Ankrom, who has spent the past four years as the Director of Public Service for the City of Circleville, said is pleased with Tuesday’s results and is looking forward to November.
“I knew this was going to be tough,” Ankrom said of the campaign leading into Tuesday’s primary. “Keith and I have a lot of people we share in common – groups of friends, key constituencies – and I just thought if I could get past the primary and get those people behind me, I will be a lot stronger in the fall.”
Ankrom said this is the first time he has ever run for public office, and he intends to use the primary as a learning experience.
“I’m sure I’ve made many, many mistakes, but I’m going to try to learn a little bit and be better in the fall,” he said.
Peters said Tuesday he was obviously disappointed with the results of the primary election, but he does not regret the effort.
“We pushed social media, we walked, we spent the money, but it just wasn’t to be,” Peters said. “But we’re OK. It’s just something I felt in my gut I needed to do.”
The race between Ankrom and Peters was the only contested local race on the primary ballot on Tuesday. Uncontested candidates from each party will now move on to face each other in November.
The renewal levy for Pickaway County Senior Services, the only issue on the local ballot, garnered overwhelming support from county voters. The renewal passed with 10,410 votes for the levy (72.64 percent) and 3,921 votes (27.36 percent) against.
This article originally appeared on The Pickaway News Journal
