LISBON — The name plate at the Columbiana County Board of Commissioners will change from Commissioner Tim Weigle to Commissioner Tim Ginter on Jan. 2 after voters overwhelmingly chose the former state representative to serve them again.

According to complete, but unofficial results from the Columbiana County Board of Elections, Ginter, a Republican, won with 34,663 votes or 75.47 percent over Democrat Ray Cox, who garnered 11,264 votes or 24.53 percent.

Both Salem residents were vying to take Weigle’s place after the longtime Republican incumbent chose against seeking a fourth term as commissioner.

“I want to thank the Columbiana County voters who voted for me and I also want to thank Mr. Cox for running a clean race,” Ginter said when contacted.

“I look forward to working alongside Commissioners Halleck and Paparodis and all the other public officials,” he said. “I thank Commissioner Weigle for his dedicated service.”

Commissioner Roy Paparodis, also a Republican, was unopposed in the general election after winning the Republican primary for the Jan. 3 term against two challengers, Duane Nickell and Danielle Burch. His vote total for re-election was 37,473 votes.

Ginter led from the beginning when the vote totals from absentees and in-office early voting were counted, receiving 70 percent of the vote from those 18,368 ballots representing 27.84 percent of registered voters. As precincts started arriving, his margin of victory continued to grow.

When asked what made the difference in this race, Ginter said “I believe the investment of service to the people of Columbiana County in the past played a significant role in this election.”

A former four-term Ohio state representative who served Columbiana County for eight years, Ginter won the Republican nomination in the spring against Lisbon resident John P. Williams. Cox was unopposed in his bid for the Democratic nomination in his first public election.

“I would like to thank everyone who voted and all of those who over the past year have taken their time to help in my campaign. We came a long way together and I appreciate everyone’s effort. To Mr. Ginter, I appreciate the professionalism in both of our campaigns and I wish you the best of luck as you move forward as commissioner,” Cox said in a written statement.

Ginter, pastor at the Church at the Center in Salem, also thanked his wife, Pam, for all her support over the years. During a campaign interview, he said, “I’m going to continue my conservative common sense approach to government and serve the people of Columbiana County with integrity.”

When he takes office, one of the challenges he’ll face with his fellow commissioners will involve trying to get the 1 percent sales tax passed after voters overwhelmingly turned down the renewal for another five years.

“I’m disappointed to see the sales tax defeated, being in that it was a renewal and our vital county services are so dependent upon it,” Ginter said.

Election Turnout

The turnout Tuesday night in Columbiana County was 72.72 percent from the 73 precincts, with 47,980 ballots cast. Out of those total ballots, 29,612 were cast on Election Day, 6,623 were absentee ballots and 11,745 were cast in-office at the county Board of Elections.

According to county Board of Elections Office Administrator Niki Wilkinson, the number of provisional ballots that have to be examined total 774. Election personnel will check eligibility for those voters and the board will determine how many can be counted during the official canvass. Wilkinson also said there were some write-ins that had be looked at, but she didn’t have a total number for those.

County Board of Elections Chairman David Johnson said there were no problems at the polls.

mgreier@mojonews.com