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MARION, OH (MARION COUNTY NOW)—Marion City Council members Ayers Ratliff and Jason Schaber overcame challenges to keep their seats after all the votes were tallied Tuesday night in the 2023 general election.
Ratliff and Schaber were the only incumbents to face opposition in the election, which saw newcomers win council seats in four of the city’s six wards.
Ratliff, a Democrat, defeated Patrick Fisher, a Republican, to retain his position as the 2nd Ward representative on Marion City Council. The final unofficial count showed Ratliff with 224 votes and
Fisher with 174 votes (56.28% to 43.72%). Ratliff has been a member of city council since winning the 2005 general election.
Schaber, a Republican, had more breathing room in his victory over Democrat William Moodie in the race for the 3rd Ward seat on Marion City Council. Schaber received 688 votes while Moodie collected 457 votes (60.09% to 39.91%).
Schaber served two terms as an at-large member of city council prior to being elected to represent the 3rd Ward in 2017. He won reelection to the seat in 2019 and 2021.
Three other city council incumbents will join Ratliff and Schaber on the governing body in January 2024. Republicans Mike Neff, Matthew Pollock, and Aaron Rollins were the only candidates who filed to run for the three at-large seats on Marion City Council.
Neff, the former 6th Ward city councilman, received 3,802 votes to win a third term on city council.
Rollins collected 3,395 votes to win his second term on council.
Pollock, who was appointed to city council earlier this year by the Marion County Republican Party Central Committee, received 3,209 votes to win his first term on council. He replaced Brett Cornelius, who resigned in the summer to take a pastorate in Illinois.
Democrat Mike Thomas chose not to seek reelection as an at-large candidate.
There will be new faces in four other council seats representing the 1st Ward, 4th Ward, 5th Ward, and 6th Ward when the calendar turns to 2024.
Republican Shawn Barr ran without opposition in the 1st Ward and received 612 votes. He will replace Democrat Jeff Gerritsen who chose not to run for office after being appointed to fill an unexpired term created when former 1st Ward Councilman Kai Meade resigned from office in July 2022.
In the 4th Ward, Republican Twila Laing defeated Democrat Dana Hanif Booker to win the seat on city council. Laing finished with 565 votes and Hanif Booker finished with 481 votes in the unofficial final tally. Laing will replace former 4th Ward Councilman Joshua Feliciano whose candidate petition was rejected due what the Marion County Board of Elections termed were “fatal errors.”
Republican Thaddaeus Smith is the new 5th Ward representative to Marion City Council. He defeated Democrat Cory Brown by 32 votes in the general election to win the seat. Smith finished with 631 votes to Brown’s 599 votes in the final unofficial tally. Smith will replace Councilwoman Karen Fosnaugh who chose not to seek reelection.
In the 6th Ward, Republican Ronald Prater defeated Democrat Bart Wolfe by 242 votes to win the seat on city council. Prater collected 1,328 votes while Wolfe received 1,086 votes.
Prater will replace Mike Neff as the 6th Ward city councilman. Neff was bumped from the 6th Ward to the 5th Ward when the city was required to conduct redistricting to even up population of its six wards as a result of the 2020 U.S. Census.
Marion City Council will also have a new president when the body convenes in January 2024. Republican Mary Stoneburner defeated independent Theresa Lubke by a margin of 1,004 votes to win the office on Tuesday. The final unofficial vote count saw Stoneburner with 4,024 votes and Lubke with 3,020 votes.
Stoneburner will replace current city council President Todd Schneider, who chose not to seek reelection after serving three terms in office.