By Joshua Benton
Blade Staff Writer
Page 4
The mayor’s race might have been a cliffhanger, but there was no drama in the race for the District 2 council seat.
Incumbent Republican Rob Ludeman easily swept to victory over his little-known opponent, Libertarian Don Jaynes.
Mr. Ludeman carried 87.8 per cent of the mostly Republican district. He tallied 14,138 votes to Mr. Jaynes’s 1,959 ballots.
“I think I’ve just been very cognizant of what the needs are in the district,” he said last night from the Republican Party’s victory celebration at the Zenobia Shrine.
Mr. Ludeman’s margin of victory was even greater than it was in the primary. Then, he scored 87.6 per cent of the vote.
At the time, he said he was not satisfied with that total.
The Democratic Party did not field a candidate in the primary, making it a two-man race. Both men advanced to the general election.
Their district – prosperous and low in crime – houses country clubs, the Toledo Zoo, and the Medical College of Ohio.
The L-shaped district takes in most of South Toledo and a section of territory between Reynolds Road and the city’s western border.
Mr. Ludeman, a real estate agent, is completing his first term on council.
He credited his meetings with community and neighborhood groups for keeping him in touch with his constituent’s needs.
Mr. Jaynes, who has never sought public office, ran on a Libertarian platform, calling for reduced government spending and taxation and disagreeing with Mr. Ludeman on almost every major issue.
He was vastly outspent by the incumbent who raised more funds.
Mr. Jaynes said he would have to think long and hard before choosing to run for office again.
“It’s immensely burdensome for an individual without a party organization,” he said last night. “I almost got shin splints going to all the wards, handing out brochures.”
Campaigning for the job was Lparticularly hard because he believed Mr. Ludeman had performed well in the seat.
“I thought he really did a good job,” he said.
He added that Mr. Ludeman should be considered for the job of council president, even though he was not an at-large candidate.
Mr. Ludeman said his first priority in the new term will be dealing with flooding problems and low water pressure in the district.
“The mayor is a resident of our district, so I would hope he would try to work with us on that issue,” he said. “It’s a real concern.”