If Issue 1 was a precursor to an abortion rights constitutional amendment to appear on the Nov. 7 ballot, those who oppose the latter have work to do.

Turnout for Tuesday’s special election statewide was 38.48 percent, which would be good for any election except those during a presidential year — and it was at a time when most people are not accustomed to voting.

Turnout in Mahoning County was 36.15 percent with 58.22 percent of voters opposing it.

Turnout in Trumbull County was 37.16 percent with 57.15 percent of voters opposing it.

Turnout in Columbiana County was 37.56 percent with 60.76 percent of voters supporting it. But its population is small compared with Mahoning and Trumbull. The total votes cast in Columbiana were fewer than just the “no” votes in either of the other two counties.

Turnout for the Nov. 7 election, because of the abortion issue — and an anticipated recreational marijuana issue — will be exceptionally high.

Issue 1, which would have required at least 60 percent support for future constitutional amendments to pass rather than the existing simple majority, was rejected by 57.01 percent of voters. As Ohio is a state controlled by Republicans, it stands to reason that a number of members of that party voted against Issue 1.

Election results showed Issue 1 garnered less support in red counties than Donald Trump did during his 2020 presidential bid and J.D. Vance in his 2022 Senate race, according to USA Today Network Ohio. There were even traditionally red counties in which Issue 1 lost.

Issue 1 wasn’t necessarily a proxy for the abortion rights amendment on the Nov. 7 ballot, but there were several people on both sides of the issue who said abortion was the main, or even the only, reason for Tuesday’s special election.

If Issue 1 had passed, it would have required at least 60 percent approval for the abortion issue to be approved. That was going to be a difficult hurdle as abortion rights issues in other red states have won, but didn’t get to 60 percent.

There was finger pointing by some Republicans and conservative organizations at their own for not campaigning for Issue 1.

Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, one of the largest anti-abortion organizations in the nation, said after Issue 1 lost: “Tragically, some sat on the sideline while outsider liberal groups poured millions into Ohio,” and “the silence of the establishment and business community in Ohio left a vacuum too large to overcome.”

It added: “So long as the Republicans and their supporters take the ostrich strategy and bury their head in the sand, they will lose again and again.”

Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman, R-Lima, said: “This was a heavy lift, and we needed all hands on deck, which disappointingly we didn’t have. The opposition had twice the money coming from (New York, California and Washington, D.C.) and a head start. We really needed to turn out our base and needed more help doing that from current and former elected officials.”

While it wasn’t said publicly, Republicans privately complained to me that Gov. Mike DeWine, Lt. Gov. Jon Husted and other elected GOP officials in the executive and legislative branches largely were absent from the Issue 1 campaign.

By far, the most prominent public official to campaign for Issue 1 was Secretary of State Frank LaRose, who became the face of the effort.

LaRose is one of three Republicans to announce his candidacy for the U.S. Senate seat held by incumbent Democrat Sherrod Brown next year.

Six days before the Issue 1 vote, I asked LaRose if he would lose credibility as a Senate candidate if Issue 1 is defeated.

“First, I don’t think it (fails), and I don’t really give a darn about losing credibility,” he said. “It’s not my calculus. It’s not the way I approach things. I back something or oppose something based on what I think is best for Ohio, and I think that it’s vitally important” and “crucial to pass Issue 1, so I’ve been proudly speaking out on it.”

The Ohio Democratic Party has been relentless in criticizing LaRose for his involvement in the Issue 1 campaign and has repeatedly called him “Ohio’s biggest loser” as a result of the issue’s defeat.