Now that Tuesday’s election is over, the next local political cycle will be short and involves people who want to run next year for office.

Potential candidates have until Dec. 7 to file candidacy petitions for county, Ohio General Assembly and other various offices in 2012 including U.S. Senate. During the next few weeks, there is likely to be a flurry of activity at county elections boards.

The only exceptions are for U.S. House of Representatives primary races held June 12 with the presidential primary. The filing deadline for congressional candidates is March 14 unless the Ohio General Assembly changes the election date.

As people decide what they want to do, quite a few observers eyed the appointment of a new Republican state senator to represent Ohio’s 18th Senate District.

That domino fell as Munson Township resident John Eklund got the nod. Many people, including me, thought the appointment would go to state Rep. Ron Young, former state Rep. Jamie Callender or Concord Township Trustee Christopher Galloway.

Instead, it’s congratulations to Eklund, who plans to run to retain the seat.

Who might run against Eklund? Perhaps it will be state Rep. Kathleen Clyde, D-Kent, who has taken out petitions from the Portage County Elections Board.

Callender and Galloway had previously announced each would run for Ohio Senate, but will either run against Eklund in a Republican primary?

What if Galloway and/or Callender runs for something else, like Lake County commissioner or another county office? Perhaps neither runs for anything.

The terms of Commissioners Robert E. Aufuldish (Jan. 3) and Raymond E. Sines (Jan. 2) expire in 2013 and the positions will be on the ballot next year. No one has filed for these two positions yet, but many have taken out petitions.

Among them is Eastlake Mayor Ted Andrzejewski. What are his plans after voters decided not to approve a citywide levy?

State Rep. Lorraine M. Fende, a Democrat, has announced she’s running for Lake County treasurer, but has yet to file.

How about Mentor Councilman Scott Marn? Might he run for county commissioner or treasurer? Republicans seem to throw his name out there quite a bit.

Many are also waiting to see if Commissioner Daniel P. Troy, a Willowick Democrat, files to run for Ohio House of Representatives District 60.

Election recap

In case you’re following along, last week I made predictions for 12 candidate and issue races. I was correct on 10 of 12, or 83 percent, including the pick of Terri Stupica for Chardon Municipal Court.

My incorrect picks were the defeat of state Issue 1, as I thought it would pass, and Mentor Council Ward 4, where I thought incumbent Ron Micchia would win.

I wasn’t surprised by the repeal of state Issue 2 as polls had previously indicated it would go down and because of the zeal and money spent on the campaign. Voters also approved state Issue 3 by an extraordinary margin. I expected that issue to pass, but perhaps not by 30-plus percentage points.

Got out the vote

At 56.1 percent, Geauga County ranked first in the state after Tuesday’s unofficial results for the number of registered voters who cast ballots.

Candidate filings

Geauga County Probate/Juvenile Court Judge Tim Grendell has filed to run for the bench’s unexpired term that ends Feb. 8, 2015.

Lake County Sheriff Daniel A. Dunlap has filed petitions for re-election.

Deadline

Those who would like to submit information for this column, the deadline is 5 p.m. each Wednesday. Email and faxes are preferred.

Fundies

Lake County Common Pleas Court Judge Vincent A. Culotta will host a cocktail and buffet reception from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Nov. 22 at Holiday Inn Express Hotel Suites LaMalfa in Mentor.

JHutchison@News-Herald.com

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