Portage voters will see a busy May primary election, with both major parties vying for two county commissioner seats and county auditor.

Petitions for the May 8 primary election are to be filed with the Portage County Board of Elections by 4 p.m. today for local and state partisan elections. Local questions and issues are also due by that time.

As of 11 a.m. today, current Democratic Commissioner Vicki Kline filed to keep her seat for a second term. Republicans Ed Dean of North Benton and Kristen Morris of Garrettsville also have filed for Kline’s seat.

The term would begin Jan. 1, 2019. The winning candidate from each party will move on to the November general election.

Current Democratic Commissioner Mike Kerrigan, who was appointed to fill the seat of the late Maureen Frederick, filed his petition to run for remaining time of the term, which ends in 2021.

Republican Tony Badalamenti of Aurora also filed for the seat. As of this morning, no other candidate had filed for the race.

Two individuals filed for the county auditor seat. Current Republican Auditor Janet Esposito filed to retain her seat, with Democrat Lis Kenneth Regula seeking his party’s nomination.

The auditor’s term would begin March 11, 2019.

As of this morning, three people also filed for the 75th House District, currently held by Democrat Kathleen Clyde. Clyde, who is term-limited, is running for Ohio Secretary of State. 

Randi Clites of Ravenna and Denise Baba of Streetsboro have filed for the Democratic nomination while Jim Lutz of Mogadore has filed as a Republican.

Follow the Record-Courier for more updates on incoming filings.

Reporter Matthew Merchant can be reached at 330-298-1127 or mmerchant@recordpub.com.