Montgomery County race for treasurer a dead heat

Montgomery County Treasurer Russ Joseph, Democrat (left) and Republican challenger John McManus (right).

Montgomery County Treasurer Russ Joseph, Democrat (left) and Republican challenger John McManus (right).

Incumbent Democrat Russ Joseph and Republican challenger John McManus ended Election Day in a dead heat, and no clear winner for Montgomery County treasurer.

McManus holds a slim 2,309 vote lead after 253,137 votes between the two. The race won’t be decided until after more than 13,000 outstanding absentee and provisional ballots are potentially counted — and could trigger a recount if it remains extremely close.

McManus of Dayton served on the Dayton school board from 2016 to 2020, and in 2018 unsuccessfully ran as a Democrat for the Ohio House of Representatives. He was hired by Foley last year as chief of the clerk of courts legal division and says he switched parties because he was approached by current and former Republican officials to run for treasurer.

Joseph, a Dayton resident, was appointed by the party to the treasurer post last year to replace Carolyn Rice after she was elected county commissioner. Prior to that, he was the party-appointed Montgomery County clerk of courts until he lost his election bid in 2018 to Republican Mike Foley.

The county treasurer is responsible for collecting property taxes and managing the county’s investments, and sits on the Montgomery County land bank board. The job pays $90,649 a year.

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