Ohio Sen. Michael Rulli, second from left, poses with supporters Brent Furrie of Boardman, left, Kathy Willig of North Lima, Maggie Naples of Boardman and Rachel Norton of Boardman on Tuesday night at the Mahoning County Republican Party headquarters in Boardman, as results for the 33rd Ohio Senate District seat came in. Rulli defeated his Democrat challenger Bob Hagan.

State Sen. Michael Rulli was re-elected to the state Legislature while Youngstown Councilwoman Lauren McNally captured the open 59th Ohio House District seat and state Rep. Al Cutrona held onto his seat.

Cutrona, R-Canfield, was in the tightest race and appears to have held on to his 58th House District with an 11.5 percent lead over Canfield City Councilman Bruce Neff, a Democrat, according to unofficial and incomplete results.

Rulli of Salem won his second four-year term Tuesday for the 33rd Senate District seat, according to unofficial and incomplete results, beating Democrat Robert Hagan of Youngstown, a former 28-year state legislator, 64 percent to 36 percent.

Leading up to Tuesday’s election, the race between the two got personal with each criticizing the other.

Rulli couldn’t be reached Tuesday to comment on his victory.

Hagan said he accepted the results of the election because “I know that voter fraud is a big lie told by the biggest liar in the history of American politics (meaning former President Donald Trump) and his supporters. I can neither accept nor abide the current state of Ohio’s electoral process, which has been perverted and degraded by years of Republican rule and the influence of corrupt special interests who funnel millions of dollars into the pockets of GOP candidates.”

Hagan called Rulli “an extremist who hid from the voters while using hundreds of thousands of dollars to conceal who he was and lie about me.”

Hagan also said he would do whatever “it takes to rebuild the Democratic Party in this state because we all see the disastrous results of one-party rule.”

The Senate district includes all of Mahoning, Columbiana and Carroll counties.

McNally won a four-person Democratic primary in August to move to the general election.

She received about 45 percent of the vote, according to unofficial and incomplete results, beating Poland Township Trustee Eric Ungaro, who received about 35 percent, and Greg Beight of New Springfield, who got 20 percent of the vote.

“I have been nervous all day,” McNally said Tuesday when a reporter told her she won. “”I’ve been campaigning for 15 months, and we’ve knocked on 18,000 doors and went to every candidate event and forum to get my message out to the new district and the current city I represent. It’s amazing that the people heard my message and vision and believe in the work I’m doing. I’m overwhelmed. I’m really overwhelmed.”

Ungaro and Beight ran as independent candidates.

Ungaro had to take the Mahoning County Board of Elections to the Ohio Supreme Court to get on the ballot after the board ruled him ineligible.

Beight got on the ballot after Secretary of State Frank LaRose broke a 2-2 elections board tie on his eligibility.

Also, Cecil Monroe of Youngstown, who’s unsuccessfully run numerous times for elected office, ran as a write-in for this seat, getting less than 100votes.

The 59th House District includes Youngstown, Coitsville, Ellsworth, Poland, Sebring, New Middletown, North Lima, Smith, Goshen, Green, Beaver and Springfield, along with four townships in northwestern Columbiana County.

In the 58th House District race, Cutrona turned back the challenge of Neff.

The district was drawn to favor Democrats by less than 2 percent, but Cutrona raised and spent significantly more money than Neff.

“Definitely with the redistricting, I had an uphill battle,” Cutrona said. “But I had faith in the voters and my supporters.”

The district includes Austintown, Boardman, Canfield, Berlin, Milton, Jackson, Craig Beach, Struthers, Campbell and Lowellville.

The Ohio Supreme Court ruled legislative maps redrawn by Republicans to be unconstitutional five times. But a federal court permitted maps to be in place for only this election. The lines will be drawn again for the 2024 election.