Judy Dodge, an incumbent and a Democrat, received 50.32% of the vote in her race for reelection to her Montgomery County commission seat. Challenger Kate Baker, a Republican, had 49.68%.
Those close margins don’t include provisional ballots and late-arriving absentee ballots.
Just two years ago, in another county commission race, Carolyn Rice trailed Jordan Wortham by over 1,000 votes on election night, but when all of the provisional ballots and late-arriving absentee ballots had been counted, the result flipped and Rice won.
The Montgomery County Board of Elections says its final certification of election results with all ballots counted will be on Nov. 26.
“I’m extremely excited,” Mary McDonald said Tuesday evening, adding that her daughter had called her from Portugal.
She said that they believe this is a great new chapter for the county, and a great opportunity to bring new voices to the table and reach underserved communities.
She also said she wanted to thank the citizens of Montgomery County that supported her and believe in the party’s vision for “a more inclusive commission.” She said she is excited to connect with each of them.
When asked about as yet uncounted votes, McDonald said that while she looks forward to the finalized totals, the party feels very confident that the result will remain in her favor.
Her opponent Debbie Lieberman disagreed. When reached Tuesday evening she pointed out that Tuesday’s numbers are not final and said that she is hopeful that the outstanding votes will turn in her favor.
She said that races have turned on provisional and late absentee ballots before, adding, “We’ll see how it goes.”
Lieberman was elected to the Montgomery County Commission in 2004 and is in her fifth term. Prior to then, she served on Clayton’s city council and worked at the Montgomery County Auditor’s Office as a director of real estate and later a chief deputy clerk.
McDonald joined Trotwood City Council in 2005 and was first voted mayor in 2016. She was a longtime Democrat, but she switched to the Republican Party this year. This followed the Montgomery County Democratic Party endorsing her opponent, Yvette Page, in the 2023 race for Trotwood mayor. Page, who was the city’s vice mayor, narrowly defeated McDonald.
Kate Baker Tuesday night stressed that the race was not over, saying there are 6,200 provisional ballots and the county is still waiting on 3,000-5,000 mail-in votes.
“The race is not over until all votes are tallied,” she said.
Judy Dodge did not respond to a request for comment.
Dodge was elected to her commission seat in 2006.
Baker was appointed to a vacancy on Huber Heights city council for Ward 3 in 2020. She was elected to the seat in 2021.
Baker said that this race had taught her a lot. “I learned how to work with more people across the county and leverage my relationships; to work together across the aisle as a team,” she said. When asked about voter turnout, she added, “Turn out has been phenomenal; I’m so happy for everyone who has taken this right to lean in and vote. It’s a sacred right that we should be proud of.”
The commission is a three-person panel of leaders tasked with overseeing the administration and operation of Montgomery County, passing a $1 billion budget this year.
The commission has the power to appoint members of the local boards, committees and other commissions that make short-term and long-term decisions for communities.
Staff writer Aimee Hancock contributed to this report.
