ATHENS, Ohio — Primary local office elections in Ohio will be May 6; general elections for local office in Ohio will be Nov. 4. Here is what you need to know about how to run for local office in Ohio this year.
Essential first steps
First, read through the Ohio 2025 candidate requirement guide, which is revised each year, to review all requirements for aspiring candidates.
Athens County Board of Elections Deputy Director Tony Brooks said his first recommendation to folks interested in running for local office would be to go to their local board of elections office and tell the board what position they wish to run for.
The board will give them all of the information needed to run for the position they are interested in, according to Brooks. He added that this would be the easiest first step.
The rundown
No matter the seats people seek, they must live in the jurisdiction of said seat — for example, if you want to run for Athens city offices, you must live within city limits. If you want to run for city council, you have to live in the ward you wish to represent.
Each city and municipality has different requirements for how long someone has to live in a jurisdiction to run for local office within that jurisdiction. Most cities will require the candidate to have lived in the area for at least one year before running.
To be considered eligible to appear on the ballot, hopeful candidates must get petitions from the board of elections to prove that they have some public support. The petitions must be signed by a certain number of signatures from local residents — 15% of the voter turnout from the latest gubernatorial election in the relevant district, for example — and each resident must be a registered voter whose signature provides up-to-date voter registration.
Petitions are specific to the office and term you wish to fulfill. The number of signatures needed depends on the position you are running for and the size of the jurisdiction you are running for.
Petition signers must be aligned with the same political party as the candidate; nonpartisan registered voters can sign anyone’s petition. For example, if you are running as a Democratic candidate, you must receive signatures from Democratic and/or nonpartisan voters.
For the May 6 primary, petitions must be turned in to the Athens County Board of Elections by 4 p.m. on Feb. 5.
From there, the board of elections verifies the signatures on the petitions to ensure that each signature is a registered voter and is registered at their current address.
If the petition doesn’t have enough valid signatures, it will be rejected. If it meets the threshold for valid signatures, the petition will go before the directors of the board of elections. The board members will double-check the signatures and — if all are found valid — certify the petition.
Once the petition is certified, you become an official candidate and your name will appear on ballots for the primary election. For the May 6 primary, the Athens County Board of Elections meeting to certify candidate petitions will be held at 3:30 p.m. on Feb. 18.
If there are more candidates for a party than available seats for that party in the office position they are running for, they will face each other in the primary election. Whoever wins moves on to the general election.
A word of advice
Athens County Auditor Jill Davidson said folks running for public office should not “go in blindly,” but consider that it takes “a significant amount of effort” and that “it is going to be really difficult to be successful.”
Davidson, a Republican, has held the office since 2000 (via appointment), and was first elected in 2002.
“I’ve always approached my position as one in which I work for the people, and I try to make it my goal to model servant leadership,” Davidson said. “It’s quite a humbling way to hold office, but that has worked for me in the past, and that’s how I’ve always done my job. I don’t really feel like anybody’s boss. I kind of feel like everybody’s my boss.”
Davidson said she cares about feedback she gets from residents, and though that can sometimes be “favorable” or “unfavorable” feedback, it makes one a better office holder and candidate who learns from that feedback.
“Really [be] in tune with why you want to run what your goals and objectives are, and [communicate] that effectively,” Davidson said. “In my experience, I’ve been on many different campaigns. Some have been very negative and very aggressive, and some have not been. In my place and in my time, I feel that there’s really no need for mud slinging. Folks should be able to run with their merit, qualifications and experience — and that should be what makes a difference.”
For more information on state and local elections in Ohio, visit the Ohio Secretary of State’s website or visit the Athens County Board of Elections.
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