by Nick Castele
Voters in many Northeast Ohio communities head to the polls on Tuesday for the September primary election.
There are city council seats up for a vote in Akron and several other suburban communities. One ward on the west side of Cleveland will vote in a council primary as well.
In Maple Heights, the mayor opted not to run for another term, and five candidates are vying to replace him in this non-partisan contest. The top two vote-getters will go up before voters again in November.
The winner will have to contend with a big financial challenge: this year the state declared Maple Heights to be in fiscal emergency.
There are several contested mayor’s races in Summit County. Barberton Mayor William Judge faces a challenge from City Councilman John Lysenko. And in Green, four candidates are running to succeed the city’s two-term mayor.
Meanwhile, Akron is getting ready to pick the city’s fourth mayor in less than a year. Democratic voters in Akron will choose between two candidates—Summit County Clerk of Courts Dan Horrigan or Akron City Councilman Mike Williams. The winner of that contest faces Republican attorney Eddie Sipplen in the general election in November.
