Click holds District 88

TIFFIN — Incumbent state Rep. Gary Click has defeated Republican challenger Eric Watson in Tuesday's primary for Ohio's 88th House District, according to unofficial results from Seneca and Sandusky counties. Click won by 599 votes overall. Click received 4,147 votes in Sandusky County while Watson received 3,042. In Seneca County, Watson received 3,218 votes while Click received 2,712. In response to a request for comment, Click pointed to a statement he posted on Facebook Tuesday night, thanking voters and congratulating Watson on "running a challenging race." He credited "the faithful support of common sense conservatives in the 88th District" for the victory. "Six years worth of a solid, conservative reputation cannot be destroyed by six months of distortion and misinformation," Click said. "Chicago and Pennsylvania based special interest groups did their best to deceive you but you saw throughout it all." Click added that his focus now turns to November. "Now it's on to November where we must work together to bring this race home for the great people of Seneca and Sandusky Counties," he said.Watson did not respond to a request for comment. Click, a Vickery Republican currently serving his third term, is seeking what he has called his fourth and final term in the Ohio House. He faced Watson in a contested primary centered on data center regulation, property tax reform and digital privacy. Watson, a Tiffin native and entrepreneur who founded Watson's Hat Shop in Arizona before returning to Seneca County in 2022, ran on an "America First" platform and challenged Click from the right, criticizing Click's co-sponsorship of digital ID legislation and his support for a data center study commission over a statewide moratorium. Click will now advance to the Nov. 3 general election, where he will face Democrat Aaron Jones, a Tiffin City councilmember and production supervisor at Toledo Molding & Die who ran unopposed for his party's nomination. The winner could still face an independent challenger in November. According to the Ohio Secretary of State's office, boards of elections have until July 15 to certify independent candidate petitions.Results are unofficial pending certification by the Seneca and Sandusky county boards of elections.