Incumbent Democrat Malena Stevens took over as Summit County’s clerk earlier this year when Eve Furse retired. Now, she’s won a full, four-year term by about an 8% margin as of Tuesday.
Republican candidate Suni Woolstenhulme has conceded and says she called Stevens the Saturday after Election Day to congratulate her.
Woolstenhulme also thanked her supporters.
“I recognize that the results weren’t what we hoped for, but I have no regrets in stepping forward and striving to serve this community that I love,” she told KPCW. “This experience gave me the opportunity to meet so many people throughout the county, to have them share their stories with me, share their concerns with me, and has brought friendships into my life that I am going to treasure for the rest of my life.”
Stevens told KPCW she appreciated the high turnout in Summit County — almost 70% this year.
“It was a really challenging race, and there were two good options on the ballot, and I feel really honored to have been chosen to continue serving this role,” Stevens said. “Really appreciated [Woolstenhulme’s] really thoughtful message wishing me well, and she said that she had appreciated, enjoyed the experience and the opportunity to be able to run.”
The clerk is Summit County’s chief elections official. But Stevens decided not to handle any ballots this election since she was in the running.
She said that was challenging too, not helping with the tabulation process. Stevens said it slowed the process down, despite believing it was the right thing to do.
“We had a lot of first-time voters, just a lot of people that were really excited to participate,” she added. “I think it speaks really highly of the caliber of this community, of how motivated, engaged, how much this community cares.”
Stevens looks forward to implementing a new business licensing software at the clerk’s office in January. She said the office is also honing internal processes related to election administration, public noticing and meeting minutes.
