Staff photo / R. Michael Semple Vincent Peterson II, right, won a landslide victory over Bria Bennett to capture the Democratic nomination in the 64th Ohio House District race and will face Republican Nick Santucci in the fall. With him at the Trumbull County Democratic headquarters is former McDonald mayor and former state Rep. Glenn Holmes.

WARREN — Vincent Peterson II turned back the challenge of Bria Bennett to capture the Democratic nomination in the 64th Ohio House District race and will face Republican Nick Santucci in the general election.

Peterson of Howland, constituent and community affairs liaison for U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, received about 69 percent of the vote compared to 31 percent for Bennett of Warren, according to incomplete and unofficial totals from the Trumbull County Board of Elections on Tuesday.

“I’m ecstatic with the results and the trust the voters of this district and Trumbull County have put in me to go to the next step by winning the primary and on to the general election,” Peterson said. “We don’t plan to slow down. We’re celebrating the victory, and it’s back to work Wednesday.”

Peterson said he feels confident he will win the Nov. 8 election against Santucci.

He also complimented Bennett for “her great campaign. I hope to work with her in the future.”

This was the first time Peterson and Bennett ran for elected office. Santucci of Howland, who also is a political newcomer, was unopposed in Tuesday’s Republican primary for his party’s nomination.

While congratulating Peterson and saying she’ll support him in the general election, Bennett said his endorsements from Ryan and the Trumbull County Democratic Party were the main reasons she lost.

“I was the only one with a platform and a plan,” Bennett said. “But it was never a fair fight.”

The new 64th House District includes all of Warren, Girard, Liberty, Niles, Hubbard, Vienna, Howland, McDonald, Weathersfield and a portion of Warren Township. It favors Democrats by almost 10 percent based on the last decade of statewide election voting trends.

The primary for state legislative candidates initially was scheduled for May 3, but the Ohio Supreme Court ruled five times that maps approved by the Republican-controlled Ohio Redistricting Commission were unconstitutional because they unfairly favored Republicans. That caused the primary to be delayed from May to August.

However, a federal court announced April 20 that it planned to implement the third set of maps, rejected by the state court,no later than May 28 if the state couldn’t approve constitutional one. That left no incentive for the redistricting commission members to make changes. The federal court imposed the third set of maps May 27 and put them in effect for only this election.

Peterson has worked for Ryan, D-Howland, since May 2017, and spent almost four years before that as a state parole officer.

Peterson said his top priorities if elected are education reform, infrastructure improvements and economic development.

dskolnick@vindy.com

dskolnick@tribtoday.com