SCIOTO COUNTY— While elected leaders, such as county commissioners, judges, the sheriff, and more, are often a focal point when considering how well local government is functioning, there are many other offices just as important in keeping the operations of the county successful. One of those offices includes the Scioto County Recorder’s Office.

The seat is soon up for grabs and voters turned out to the polls Tuesday to vote in the primary, which determined who will be on the ballot in the general.

County Recorder Gail Alley is reeking re-election as a democrat. She was running unopposed in the primary and has been in office for nearly 12 years and in the department for a total of 32 years. Alley serves on the Ohio Recorders Association and the Scioto County Records Commission Board with decades of experience leading her to office.

“I’ve been here for 32 years. I have the knowledge and understanding of everything in this office and how to run this office. This isn’t an easy office to just walk into and take over,” Alley said. “I have years of experience. I was hired under Irene Ashley and she taught me everything I needed to know to become the recorder and I enjoy what I’m doing. I have advanced this office very much in the past eleven and a half years and I am running for reelection because I want to continue this progress forward.”

With no opposition, Alley won her place on the next ballot and will continue her campaign to the general election.

“I’m glad for the opportunity to pursue a continuation of what I’ve been doing. I’ve worked really hard to be where I am now. I strive to do the best I can, with the ability God has given me,” Alley said. “I hope the voters appreciate that and are pleased with me.”

On the republican ballot, Steven (Will) Mault and Gary Jenkins were vying for the win.

Mault has been a lifelong resident of Scioto County going back eight generations. He has two family businesses that he has been a part of since the 1970’s and is a graduate of Portsmouth East High School and Shawnee State University.

Mault explained that he has a history of running for office and his recent campaign for recorder wasn’t a decision he made on a whim at the last minute.

“I’ve been involved in public service,” Mault said. “I’ve been a central committee member for 20 years in the Republican Party and I feel a need to be involved in public service and the opportunity presented itself to run for recorder on the Republican ticket, so I did.”

Jenkins began his venture in politics as an employee of the Trump campaign in 2020, where he worked in six counties. According to Jenkins, in the counties he worked, Trump carried a larger margin of victory than he did in 2016. While campaigning for Trump, Jenkins was attending school and working, saving his earnings to start a business that now employs 14 people. Previously, Jenkins ran for Portsmouth City Council.

“I’ve built my business from the ground up using conservative principles centered around financial responsibility and customer service,” Jenkins said, prior to the vote. “I will bring the same mindset of fiscal conservatism and servant leadership to the Recorder’s Office. I am also proud to be the endorsed candidate by Commissioners Cathy Coleman and the Scioto County Republican Club.”

While they may not have utilized websites, each of the three campaigns had Facebook pages, where the public could reach out to the candidate or see their opinions on office. Gail Alley had 176 follows and had posted once in the two weeks leading up to the vote. Mault had 117 followers and had posted once in the two weeks leading up to the vote. Jenkins had 438 followers and had posted four times in the two weeks leading up to vote.

According to the Scioto County Board of Elections, once all 77 precincts were reported, Jenkins was named winner with 3,801 votes, opposed to Mault’s 3,526 votes.

Additionally, both Jenkins and Mault were running for Republican Central Committee. Jenkins was unopposed and claimed his seat with 24 votes. Mault was challenged by Portsmouth City Councilman Joseph Sandlin. Mault and Sandlin both received 49 votes.

“It is a great honor that the republican voters of Scioto County have chosen me to represent them in the general election for the next Scioto County Recorder,” Jenkins said. “I want to congratulate my opponent, Steve Mault on a good race, a clean race. I look forward to the good, clean race once again against Gail Alley in November.”

Reach Joseph Pratt at (740) 353-3101, by email at [email protected], © 2024 Portsmouth Daily Times, all rights reserved.