Ohio Democratic lawmaker Allison Russo won election as the next Ohio Secretary of State on Tuesday, following a concession by opponent and current Ohio Treasurer Robert Sprague.

Russo told a crowd at the Ohio Democratic Party’s election night party that voters chose “a picture that is rooted in fairness, accessibility, and transparency, and I am so deeply honored and profoundly humbled to stand before you tonight as your next secretary of state.”

Russo said the office of secretary of state “touches the core of our daily lives.”

“And tonight, Ohioans have sent a very, very clear message, and that is that you want election systems that are secure, efficient, accessible, transparent for every eligible voter, not matter where they live or how they vote,” she said.

Just days before Election Day, a non-partisan election forecaster called Sabato’s Crystal Ball, which is at the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, said the race was no longer leaning toward a Republican win, but was considered a toss-up.

Russo is currently in the Ohio House, and spent time during her tenure there as House Minority Leader. Sprague was also in the Ohio House before coming into statewide office.

In his concession speech on Tuesday night, Sprague said every Republican on the ballot “knew going into this election that we were going to face significant headwinds, and they turned out to be stronger than any of us understood.”

“This was a national wave, and there are a number of good, Republican public servants who deeply love Ohio who were swept away tonight,” Sprague said.

He congratulated Russo, and said the Republican Party has “some soul searching ahead of us.”

The secretary of state has been a Republican since 2011, when current GOP Ohio U.S. Sen. Jon Husted took over from Democrat and current Ohio Supreme Court Justice Jennifer Brunner.

Husted was followed in 2019 by the current Republican, Secretary of State Frank LaRose.

Before Brunner was in office, Republicans Ken Blackwell and former governor Bob Taft had the seat. Taft took over for Democrat Sherrod Brown, who went on to become a U.S. senator, a position he won back from Husted in Tuesday’s unofficial results.

Megan Henry contributed to this article.

This story is republished from the Ohio Capital Journal under a Creative Commons license. View the original article.