Outgoing Columbiana County Board of Elections board members Republican Vic Maroscher and Democrat Larry Bowersock attend their last meeting with fellow board members Monday, receiving recognition from Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose for their many years of service. (Photo by Mary Ann Greier)

LISBON — The Columbiana County Board of Elections certified candidate petitions and local liquor options on Monday for the May 6 primary, then said goodbye to longtime board members Republican Vic Maroscher and Democrat Larry Bowersock.

Maroscher, who’s been serving for eight years, couldn’t run again due to the bylaws of the county Republican Party, which limited him to two four-year terms. The party’s central committee chose Greg Smith of Salem as the new board member to replace Maroscher.

Bowersock, who’s served since 2006, chose not to seek another appointment by the Democrat central committee, which recently selected county Democrat Party Chairman Charley Kidder as his replacement.

The two new board members will join county Republican Party Chairman David Johnson, who serves as board chairman, and Democrat Patty Colian, vice chairman, when the board reorganizes at 1:30 p.m. March 5.

“We’ll definitely miss you. We appreciate the fact that you gave so much to our county,” Board of Elections Director Kim Fusco said.

“We got the best staff we ever had. I’m so proud of them,” Bowersock said.

Maroscher said he appreciated his time on the board, talking about how involved the board is regarding every aspect of the elections.

Johnson said it’s been great to have Maroscher on the board on behalf of Republicans and talked about Bowersock being open and honest and an advocate for the staff.

Colian also talked about their contributions and admitted she didn’t know Maroscher until he was on the board, but she’s glad she got to know him. As for Bowersock, the two have been friends a long time, so she said she’s going to miss him on the board.

Maroscher said Smith will fit in very well. Kidder attended the meeting as an observer. Both he and Smith will be sworn in when the board reorganizes. The board is made up of four members, two Republicans and two Democrats. The staff is also split, with Fusco a Democrat, Administrative Assistant Niki Wilkinson a Republican and two Democrat staff members and two Republican staff members.

In talking about the primary, Fusco said there were no problems with any of the candidate petitions and this time no problem with the local liquor options for the Calcutta Walmart. Last year, the local liquor option didn’t make the ballot because the petitions didn’t have enough valid signatures.

This time, Fusco said the number of valid signatures totaled 277, which was more than the 258 required. Walmart is seeking Monday through Saturday liquor sales and Sunday liquor sales.

Since there are no contested races on the Democrat side, there will be no Democratic primary. The only countywide contested race on the Republican side will be for the Jan. 1 term of county Municipal Court Judge between appointed Judge Kelly Linger, who’s seeking to retain her seat, and fellow Republican Danielle Menning, an assistant county prosecutor.

The only other Republican contested primary will take place in the city of Salem, with four Republicans vying for three open seats for Council-At-Large. The candidates include Michael Weir, Trent Tice, Dennis Plegge and Jim Harrington. Plegge previously served as Third Ward councilman. There’s also a Democrat candidate, George Begalla, who will go straight through to November since he’s unopposed.

Fusco reminded board members that the deadline for Independent candidates to file for any partisan seats is May 5, the day before the primary.

There will be countywide issues for voters to decide, with the 1 % sales tax up for renewal and the .75-mill Children Services levy up for renewal. Residents in Rogers and East Palestine will have road levy renewals, the city of Salem will have renewal of the .25 % income tax for road improvements and Southern Local school district will have a renewal levy.

In other business, the board approved expenses of $105,314 for December, which included some additional election expenses from the general election, and $83,037 for January. Fusco included year to date costs from 2024 which totaled $943,916 which she said was reflective of having three elections in one year, including the presidential. She said normally the expenses for the year total $600,000 to $650,000. The county was reimbursed 100 percent for the congressional election that had to be held.

Wilkinson announced that there’s a new feature on the board of elections website to allow searches of candidates and committees for campaign spending. She said staff member Diane Raptis set the system up. Go to the website at columbiana.boe.ohio.gov and click on campaign finance.