Tuesday, November 6, 2012, only two races in Fulton County were contested. While important to the county, the races took a backseat to the hotly contested presidential campaigns of President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney. While Romney prevailed in Fulton County, statewide and nationwide President Obama came out the victor, winning a second term in office.
In Fulton County, Paul Barnaby was elected to a fourth term as County Commissioner. He defeated challenger Becky Thatcher by an unofficial vote total of 10,630 to 7,746, respectively, a margin of 57.85% to 42.15%.
Sheriff’s Deputy Roy Miller will take over the top spot as Sheriff beginning in January. He defeated challenger Wauseon Police Chief Keith Torbet by a resounding 74.19% to 25.81% which translates to a vote count of 13,962 to 4,857.
In the vote for U.S. Senate, once again Fulton County went to the candidate who did not eventually win. Josh Mandel was the top vote-getter in Fulton County outdistancing the state-wide winner, Sherrod Brown, 54% to 40% with Scott Rupert getting just over 5% of the vote.
Fulton Countians returned Bob Latta to Congress giving him 61% of the popular vote.
State issues 1 and 2 both went down to defeat both in Fulton County and statewide.
Voter turnout in Fulton County was high with 20,927 out of 29,232 registered voters casting their ballots. That’s a whopping 71.5%, one of the highest turnouts in recent memory.