Gary Click says he might have voted for Democrat Aaron Jones, calls Republican primary challenger ‘a nut’

State Rep. Gary Click said he might have voted for Democrat Aaron Jones rather than his own Republican primary challenger, Eric Watson, if Watson had won the GOP nomination, calling the fellow Republican “a nut” in a recorded conversation obtained by TiffinOhio.net.

The remarks came after Click narrowly survived a surprisingly competitive May 5 primary against Watson, a first-time candidate who came within just 600 votes of defeating the three-term incumbent. Watson won Seneca County outright and captured nearly 48% of the districtwide Republican vote despite raising substantially less money than Click, who benefited from years of established fundraising relationships and support from the Ohio House Republican caucus.

During the recorded conversation, Click was challenged over his earlier false accusation that local Democrats had donated to Watson’s primary campaign. Click acknowledged that the accusation was a mistake but maintained that Democrats would have benefited politically if Watson had defeated him.

“I actually told somebody at one time,” Click said, before describing a hypothetical general election between Watson and Jones. “If it was between Eric and Aaron, I might have voted for Aaron,” he said, laughing, “because Eric’s a nut.”

Click then added: “Don’t you repeat that.”

Click’s characterization of Watson was unusually blunt for an incumbent discussing a fellow Republican who had come close to denying him his party’s nomination.

Click, a Republican from Vickery who was first elected in 2020, ultimately secured the nomination and now faces Jones, a Tiffin city councilman, U.S. Army veteran and longtime manufacturing supervisor, in the November 3 general election.

A first-time challenger nearly unseated a three-term incumbent

Watson’s primary campaign presented one of the most serious electoral challenges Click has faced since entering the Ohio House. The Tiffin businessman campaigned to the incumbent’s right, criticizing Click’s relationships with Republican leadership, his legislative record and his positions on data centers, digital identification and property taxes.

According to the certified results from the Seneca County and Sandusky County boards of elections, Click defeated Watson by 6,884 votes to 6,284, a margin of just 600 votes, or 52.28% to 47.72%.

The incumbent actually lost Seneca County, where Watson defeated him 3,228 to 2,724. Click survived because of his stronger showing in Sandusky County, where he defeated Watson 4,160 to 3,056.

Watson’s performance was particularly notable given the financial disparity between the campaigns. Campaign-finance records previously examined by TiffinOhio.net showed Click reported $69,461.37 in contributions during 2026 through primary day, compared with $17,488.05 Watson reported across his campaign filings. Watson also relied on substantial personal funding, contributing $21,000 of his own money to finance the challenge.

The spending gap was narrower. Click’s committee reported $53,662.58 in expenditures through primary day, compared with $42,128.99 for Watson. Click’s reported expenditures included $45,000 in transfers to the Ohio House Republican Organizational Committee, which subsequently reported providing $38,611.62 in support to Click’s campaign.

The primary also exposed a lasting divide between the two Republicans. In July, Watson told TiffinOhio.net he would never endorse Click, saying a post-primary conversation had failed to resolve his concerns about the incumbent’s positions on data centers and government overreach. Watson also announced plans to move out of the district.

Click had previously dismissed Watson’s candidacy and questioned his political judgment. During the primary, he told the Fremont News-Messenger that moving further to the right than him meant going “in the ditch.” In April, he mocked Watson as “the Arizona Kid”, referencing his former residence in Arizona despite Watson having grown up in Seneca County.

Watson, meanwhile, told TiffinOhio.net in February that personal insults were unnecessary and that candidates should focus on substantive disagreements.

“I’m not into the name-calling or any of that stuff,” Watson said at the time. “I really, as a candidate, want to focus on the issues that voters are concerned about.”

Click acknowledges false accusation against Democrats

The recorded conversation also revisited an August controversy in which Click falsely accused Jones and two other local Democrats of financially supporting Watson’s Republican primary campaign.

A TiffinOhio.net fact-check published August 7 found that none of the three Democrats had contributed to Watson, according to campaign-finance filings submitted to the Ohio Secretary of State. Click subsequently deleted his original accusation and published a correction acknowledging that the claim had been made in error.

During the recorded conversation, Click explained that he had downloaded campaign-finance information for the 88th District and mistakenly interpreted contributions while reviewing the records.

“I made a simple mistake,” Click said. He later added: “It was a mistake, and it was a dumb mistake. I’m not even gonna say it wasn’t.”

Despite acknowledging the error, Click continued to suggest that Democrats had wanted Watson to win the Republican nomination because he believed Watson would have been easier to defeat in November.

“He would’ve been much easier to beat,” Click said.

It was during that discussion that Click volunteered his hypothetical preference for Jones over Watson, describing the former Republican challenger as “a nut.”

Click’s remarks contrast with his calls for respectful campaigns

Elsewhere in the same recorded exchange, Click repeatedly criticized what he characterized as personal attacks against him and insisted that he had treated his own political opponents respectfully.

“I have always been kind to every candidate,” Click said, later adding, “I try to be nice to my opponents. I try to keep it to policy.”

Those statements echoed his public comments during the Republican primary, when he urged candidates to “turn down the rhetoric” and argued that political disagreements should not become attacks on opponents’ character. His subsequent description of Watson as “a nut” was directed not at a Democratic adversary but at a fellow Republican whose primary challenge nearly prevented Click from advancing to the general election.

TiffinOhio.net contacted Watson for comment on Click’s recorded remarks but had not received a response by publication. Nick Kraus, a campaign consultant for Watson’s primary bid, was also contacted and declined to comment. This story will be updated if Watson responds.

Click faces Jones on November 3 in Ohio’s 88th House District, which encompasses Seneca and Sandusky counties. The election will determine whether Click secures a fourth and final term in the Ohio House after narrowly surviving a primary challenge from a fellow Republican he now acknowledges he might have passed over in favor of a Democrat.