Cuyahoga County’s FitzGerald ready to officially take on Kasich

Ed FitzGerald easily defeats civil rights activist Larry Ealy

5/8/2014

COLUMBUS — In a low-turnout election, Democratic gubernatorial nominee Ed FitzGerald easily put challenger Larry Ealy behind him with the Dayton-area man garnering an anemic 17 percent of the vote.

Mr. Ealy, a former tow truck driver and self-proclaimed civil rights activist, won none of Ohio’s 88 counties. His best performance Tuesday was in Republican-heavy Brown County at 31 percent.

In Mr. FitzGerald’s Cuyahoga County, Mr. Ealy’s support faded to 12 percent.

According to the unofficial final tally, Mr. FitzGerald got 362,031, or 83.2 percent of the total, to Mr. Ealy’s 73,171, or 16.8 percent.

Lucas County nearly mirrored the state results with the Cuyahoga County executive getting 82.5 percent and Mr. Ealy 17.5 percent.

Even with Mr. Ealy’s challenge pending, Mr. FitzGerald never took his eye off his opponent in the fall, Republican Gov. John Kasich.

“The last three years have seen an unprecedented attack on workers, seniors, educators, police officers, firefighters, and many more Ohioans,” Mr. FitzGerald wrote in a fund-raising email sent out after the race was called Tuesday night.

“Ohio’s wealthiest have gotten cushy tax breaks, while the rest of us have been left out and stuck with the bill,” he wrote. “A good leader should stand up to this injustice — but instead, Governor Kasich has facilitated it.”

Voters will have to wait to see whether Anita Rios of Toledo received enough write-in votes Tuesday to appear as the Green Party candidate on the Nov. 4 ballot.

Mr. Kasich faced no primary opposition.

“The governor’s record of creating jobs, balancing budgets, and cutting taxes resonates with Ohioans across party lines, and we look forward to talking about this strong record all the way to November,” Kasich spokesman Connie Wehrkamp said.

Contact Jim Provance at: jprovance@theblade.com or 614-221-0496.