Rosenberger wins 86th District House seat

Clinton County Republican Cliff Rosenberger, according to unofficial results, has won the race to become Ohio's 86th House District representative. 

The 86th District is comprised of Highland, Clinton and Pike counties. 

In Highland County, Rosenberger, unofficially had 6,957 votes. Democratic candidate Bill Horne had 4,359 votes, and Libertarian candidate Jacob Dawson had 516 votes. 

In Clinton County, Rosenberger had 6,679 votes; Horne had 2,256 votes and Dawson had 471 votes. 

  Pike County results are pending. 

"I am very humbled and blessed that the voters of the 86th District have given me an opportunity to represent them in Columbus," Rosenbeger told The Highland County Press Tuesday evening. "I think they got our message that we need to get in there and get to work to get jobs and businesses in Ohio. And that's what we're going to do."

All three candidates expressed that they were proud of the campaigns, which they said were based on the issues and not personal attacks. 

"Both Jacob and Bill, you couldn't have asked for better opponents," Rosenberger said. "We met early on and we told each other that we were going to talk about the issues. That's how politics should be. There was a camaraderie among the opponents, and I couldn't have asked for two better people. The 86th had great people to represent them, no matter which way the vote would have turned out."

Horne and Dawson each congratulated Rosenberger and wished him the best in the office. 

"I do want to congratulate Cliff," said Horne, who made his fifth bid for the office. "It was a clean race, and there was no nastiness involved and I wish him all the luck in the world."

This was Dawson's first time running for office, but he said that it most likely will not be his last. 

"I want to say that I am extremely proud of Cliff and Bill and all three of us ran a clean, non-mudslinging campaign," Dawson said. "We were very respectful of each other. I went over and spoke to Cliff and congratulated him. I told him I will watch how how he leads, and if it's not in line with how I would have voted, he'll see me again (on the ballot). If it is, then no, he won't see me again, because there is no sense in running against him if he is doing the same thing I would do."

However, Dawson said he's keeping options open. 

"I told Cliff - and I would have said the same thing to Bill Horne - I am not disappointed with the results," Dawson said. "This was my first run for office, campaigning while working a full-time job and being a Libertarian, which most of the voters had never seen at this level on a ballot before. I am really proud of the way I ran the race. I am proud that voters had a choice."

Rosenberger said that he will spend the time between now and when he takes office in January to learn more about the issues and getting to know his constituents. 

"It has been a humbling experience and I look forward to getting around the district and learning more and getting downloaded with more information," he said. 

Rosenberger said first on his agenda is working to get Ohio's budget balanced and, "Making government effective and more efficient so we can bring jobs here and get more businesses opening up in Ohio."