Hackett was leading in Clark County with a little over 64% of the vote with all precincts in the county reporting. His opponent had a little over 35% of the vote, according to unofficial election results reported by the Clark County Board of Elections.
Hackett also secured a little over 63% of the vote in unofficial final results in Greene County, while Ballard had a little over 36% of the vote, according the Greene County Board of Election.
Hackett carried a sizable lead 75% to 25% in Madison County, which the senate seat spans into according to date reported by that county’s Board of Elections.
These numbers could change as more ballots are counted through Nov. 18. We will continue to update these results as more ballots are counted.
Those results put Hackett at serving a final four-year term as the representative of residents in Ohio Senate District 10.
“I worked hard to do a good job. I appreciate the voters for putting me back in for this last term. I can’t thank the voters enough. They are tremendous," he said
Hackett of London, was seeking re-election for a second and final term. He is chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee and leads a subcommittee on Health Finance and Medicaid. He served in the Ohio House from 2009 to 2016 and as a Madison County commissioner from 2001 to 2008.
He has held his current position since 2016.
Democratic challenger Ballard owns a small sign company in Greene County. He previously worked as a government contractor at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, and before that served 21 years in the U.S. Air Force.
Ballard said he wanted to congratulate Hackett for running a clean race and winning. In a statement sent to the News-Sun, Ballard questioned why Republican candidates have dominated the senate seat for decades.
“Ohio voters constantly state they want COVID leadership, affordable and accessible health care, justice reform, higher minimum wage, broadband and fair school districts; yet they vote for GOP representatives who haven’t taken any actions over many years in power, some even openly oppose these items publicly,” Ballard further added in the statement.
“I know some are asking what can the DNC do to win in Ohio; that is not my question. My question is why are people consistently voting against what they say they believe in and would like to see happen in Ohio,” he added.
Hackett said that he wanted to thank his challenger for running. He called Ballard “a high quality individual" and said he appreciated “sharing this race with him.”
The Ohio Senate seat represents a district that stretches from Beavercreek to West Jefferson and includes the cities of Springfield and Xenia. The four-year term starts in January and the Ohio Senate pays a salary of $60,584 a year.
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