Incumbent Duane Flowers will hold on to his seat as a Licking County Commissioner for a fourth term, defeating Granville Township Trustee Bryn Bird in the Nov. 5 election, according to preliminary results from the Licking County Board of Elections.
In a pre-election interview, Flowers told The Reporting Project, “We still have projects that aren’t done, and I want to see them finished up and see them through.”
Flowers will now get his chance to do so, earning 65.3% of the vote, according to preliminary results from the BOE.
“It’s going about how I expected,” Flowers told The Reporting Project shortly before final vote totals were released late Tuesday night. “If you look at all the republican candidates that are going against democratic candidates, the percentages are all about the same. … We’ve worked hard, as we all have. I mean, this is not an easy thing to do. If you want to serve, it’s part of the job.”
Read more: County Commissioner Duane Flowers wants to see unfinished projects to the finish line
Over the next four-year term, Flowers, 72, plans to pick up where he left off. In an interview with TRP reporter Andrew Theophilus, Flowers said, “We’ve got a lot of road issues we’re trying to get cleaned up and fixed up. Especially around the Johnstown, St Albans, Monroe township areas, so we can get the people who live in those areas — they don’t deserve all that truck traffic and congestion. We need to make sure we get them some safe and clean roads up there. That’s going to be probably number one. Number two is to start first of the year getting the comprehensive plan done for the county.”
Service is something that Flowers sees as being in his blood: his family has served in the U.S. armed forces since the Revolutionary War, and he served during the Vietnam War. Flowers was born and raised in central Ohio, and was first elected to public office in 1999, when he was elected to be the mayor in Hanover.
Flowers pitched himself to voters this election as an “America-First Conservative Republican,” while his opponent, 40-year-old Bird, said she believes political ideology does not belong in the conversation about what’s best for the people of Licking County.
Flowers claims that it is yet to be seen if he will run again.
“I will never know that until I guess that time comes. As long as my health holds out and I feel like I’m able to serve and give and I’ll continue on,” said Flowers.
Flowers had this to say about his opponent, “I appreciate my opponent and her civil way of being an opponent. I look forward to it being over with, so we can all go on with our lives.”
Bird has been a Granville Township Trustee for seven years, and is a lifelong resident of Licking County.
When asked how she was feeling Bird responded at 9:58 p.m., saying: “Very proud of the race I ran. Disappointed it doesn’t look like a win but I am very hopeful as a citizen and township trustee that the commissioners truly begin to put in place strong plans for our county’s future. I will continue to work as a trustee for the citizens of Granville and advocate for more resources for townships.”
Bird believes that Licking Counties long history of republican county commissioners set a trend that continued through this election.
“Especially during a presidential race we have a strong history of a very strong, Republican voting block, it seems that people still just kind of voted down the ballot for one party,” said Bird.
At 10:02 p.m. Bird told The Reporting Project that although many republican leaders in the community have told her to run again in two years, she does not plan to unless they officially endorse her before beginning a campaign. While she is disappointed at the lack of comprehensive community planning, particularly as it concerns natural resources, Bird remains committed to the community.
“For now I’m going to keep deserving Granville Township and the residents of the Granville community and advocate on our behalf for the resources that we need to best plan for our future and to protect our natural resources in light of not having an overall community comprehensive plan.”
Bird would also like to thank her supporters for all their time and resources.
“The work doesn’t stop and I’ll keep working to build community,” said Bird.
Bird called her opponent Flowers to congratulate him, and hopes to get coffee with him soon to discuss working together to address concerns around the county.
Flowers reported nearly $26,000 in financial contributions between the March primary and the November general election, including $2,500 from Fairfield County Commissioner David Levacy, $2,500 from Grant Douglas of Columbus, $100 from Board of Elections Director Brian Mead, $100 from Newark Mayor Jeff Hall, and $100 from Court of Common Pleas candidate Matt Kunsman.
Flowers also received $500 from the Realtors Political Action Committee in Columbus and $500 from Ohio House candidate Kevin Miller, according to campaign finance reports filed with the elections board.
Bird reported approximately $1,750 in monetary contributions in April – the latest campaign finance report available from the board of elections – including $1,000 from The Matriots Political Action Committee, a nonpartisan, Ohio-based group that supports women candidates.
Noah Fishman and Andrew Theophilus write for TheReportingProject.org, the nonprofit news organization of Denison University’s Journalism program, which is supported by generous donations from readers. Sign up for The Reporting Project newsletter here.