Local Elections November 2025 - Unofficial Candidate List

Find local rallies, Dem club meetings, and educational events near you.

Even when there isn’t a ton of events happening in the area, there is still plenty we can do to prepare ourselves to channel our outrage into action. Voting is a crucial part of any organizing—so let’s dive in!

Who the heck is going to be on your ballot this November?!

First, let’s recap the Democrats who won in the May primary who will be on the ballot against their Republican opponents.

  • These people will have a “D” next to their name on the ballot.

  • They have Republican opponents.

  • Bolded names would FLIP a Republican-held seat.

  • All names* with asterisks* are incumbent Democrats.

Municipality

Max # you can vote for

Democrats running in partisan races

Akron City Council Ward 1

Pick 1

- Fran Wilson

Tallmadge City Council

Pick 3

- Dave Kline

- Jessica Epstein*

- Lindsay Cammel Halm

Barberton President of Council

Pick 1

- Shorter Griffin

Barberton Council-at-large

Pick 2

- Julie Miller

- Chris Stoll

Barberton City Council Ward 2

Pick 1

- Bryan Poorman

Barberton Municipal Clerk of Courts

Pick 1

- Matt Shaughnessy

Stow Municipal Court Judge

Pick 1

- Amber Zibritosky

Onto the new stuff!

Below is the UNOFFICIAL* list of candidates who have an opponent.

There are 31 races with candidates running unopposed, meaning they won already! Since there is no race to be had, we’re excluding them from this newsletter.

You can find the full list of unopposed & opposed “August 5 deadline candidates” here.

Why is it an “Unofficial” list?

The Summit County Board of Elections (BOE) still has to certify each candidates’ petition to be on the ballot - meaning they have to check every signature they received and make sure it matches with a real voter with the right address, and in the correct district they’re running in.

The certification will take place on Monday, August 18 at a BOE meeting. So, some of these names might come off the list if they didn’t actually get enough valid signatures to make the ballot. But there won’t be any new names.

We’re too excited to wait until August 18, so relish in the unofficial list with us!

The rest of the candidates require a little more nuance than our partisan primary winners.

Here’s some guidelines to remember for the candidates below:

  • These people will NOT have a “D” or an “R” next to their name on your ballot.

  • This list contains Democrats, Republicans, and unaffiliated candidates (oh my!).

  • All names* with asterisks* are incumbents.

  • BLUE names are registered Democrats.

  • Registered Republicans have an (R) next to their name.

Disclaimer #1: To be registered with a political party, you have to have voted in a partisan primary within the last 2 years. Some people might consider themselves Republicans or Democrats, but haven’t participated in a primary in the last 2 years. So don’t sue me if you know someone is a Democrat or Republican but it’s not indicated here.

Disclaimer #2: Party affiliation is obviously not everything. But I think you can tell a lot about a person by if they 1) affiliate with the Republican Party post-Trump 1.0, post-pandemic, or ever… or if they 2) actively and frequently participate in civic actions like voting in primaries at all.

Unofficial list of remaining candidates for 11/4/25

City Councils

Max # you can vote for

Candidates

Hudson Council-at-large

Pick 3

- Chris Banweg* (R)

- Kyle Brezovec

- Samantha D’Eramo

- Karen Heater* (R)

- Will McGinley

- Amanda Weinstein

Macedonia Council-at-large

Pick 3

- Jessica Brandt*

- Sue Cummings

- Matt Ferraro*

- Vini Ventura*

Munroe Falls Council-at-large

Pick 2

- Jim Iona*

- Chris Ritzinger

- Timothy M. Vesey (R)

Munroe Falls Ward 3

Pick 1

- Connie Collinson

- John Impellizzeri

Stow Council-at-large

Pick 3

- Cyle Feldman*

- Kyle Herman*

- Jeremy McIntire* (R)

- Josh Wall (R)

- Kim Young

Stow Ward 2

Pick 1

- Kelly Coffey* (R)

- Sindi Harrison (R)

Twinsburg Council-at-large

Pick 1

- Scott Barr*

- Shaun Castillo

- Laurie Facsina

Village Councils

Max # you can vote for

Candidates

Boston Hts Council

Pick 4

- Bob Bartko* (R)

- Sasha Chetyrkina-Miller*

- Christopher Fenn (R)

- Seth Wells (R)

- Susan Wells (R)

Clinton Council

Pick 4

No longer a contested race!

- Ellen Conroy (R)

- Kent Goch

- John Henry (R)

- Sarah Henry (R)

- Tom Knepper

Peninsula Council

Pick 4

- William Cole

- Lori Dooley

- Amy Frank-Hensley

- Daniel Krachinsky

- John Najeway*

- Jim Nash

- Jodi R. Padrutt

- Moe Riggins

Richfield Village Council

Pick 4

- Carol Campbell

- Monica Ann Day

- Rick Hudak* (R)

- Michael K. Lyons

- Jeffrey Newman

- Pat Norris*

- Joyce Parton

- Jim Smith

- Jeff Stoppenhagen* (R)

- Dave Woytek (R)

Silver Lake Council District A

Pick 1

- Thomas DiCaudo* (R)

- James Kurtz

Township Trustees

Max # you can vote for

Candidates

Bath Twp

Pick 2

- Sean Gaffney* (R)

- James McClellan (R)

- Sharon A. Troike*

Boston Twp

Pick 2

- Amy Anderson* (R)

- Mike Anderson (R)

- Nicholas Daryl Janigian

Copley Twp

Pick 2

- Robert Campbell (R)

- Scott Dressler* (R)

- Bruce Koellner* (R)

Twinsburg Twp

Pick 2

- Jamey DeFabio* (R)

- Jessica Favitta

- Keith Harris

School Boards

Max # you can vote for

Candidates

Akron School Board

Pick 4

- Diana Autry*

- Cynthia Blake (R)

- Gwen Bryant

- Gregory B. Harrison*

- Carla Jackson* (R)

- Nathan R. Jarosz

- Karmaya Kelly

- Keith Mills

- Phil Montgomery

Copley-Fairlawn School Board

Pick 3

- Jim Borchik* (R)

- Stephen M. Coon

- Beth Hertz*

- Gregory Ryan Potts

- Carl Talsma

Cuyahoga Falls School Board

Pick 3

- Jennifer Allen

- Anthony D. Gomez*

- John R. Sans (R)

- Carrie A. Schaefer*

- Meghan Weakley

- Courtney Zimmerman

Green Local School Board

Pick 3

No longer a contested race!

- Bob Campbell* (R)

- Tod J. Daniels

- Nick Fanelly

- Katie Stoynoff*

Hudson School Board

Pick 3

- Mark Dzurec*

- Ryan Patti

- Jon C. Peterson

- Kirstin Toth

Manchester Local School Board

Pick 3

No longer a contested race!

- Jason Jividen (R)

- Dale A. Jolly (R)

- Richard P. Sponseller*

- Brian M. Young (R)

Norton School Board

Pick 3

- Chris Inks*

- Glen Nazworth (R)

- Elisa Staats*

- Cindy Webel* (R)

Nordonia Hills School Board

Pick 3

- William B. Busse (R)

- Sandra A. Carmela-Miller (R)

- Matt Ford

- Jason Tidmore*

Revere Local School Board

Pick 2

- Jeffrey Aram Bowler

- Jennifer Burke

- Hayden Hajdu* (R)

- Keith Malick* (R)

Springfield Local School Board

Pick 3

- Amy Campbell

- Cynthia Frola*

- Donnie Furlong*

- Chad Lance

- Kelly Warner (R)

Stow-Munroe Falls School Board

Pick 1

- JoAnne Loparo

- Tina Merlitti*

Stow-Munroe Falls School Board

Pick 2

- Kathrine Dannemiller

- John Moyer

- Jason Whitacre (R)

- Pamela Wind*

Tallmadge School Board

Pick 3

- Michael Donnell

- Todd Loughry* (R)

- David S. Parry (R)

- Kimberly Polatas

- Jennifer Ross* (R)

Twinsburg School Board

Pick 3

- Kelly Ameche

- Rhonda Crawford*

- Chris Kraska

- Joe Revay

- Merkisha Rush

- Lea Travis*

- Mark R. Wesner

Woodridge Local School Board

Pick 3

- Tammy Heffernan* (R)

- Scott Karlo*

- David Lydic*

- Danielle Murphy

There are issues on the ballot as well, but we’ll save that for another newsletter—because that was a lot!

If you’re curious, you can find the current list of levies, charter amendments, and local issues here. There may be more filed, as some issues don’t have to be filed until 60 days before the election, rather than the previous deadline of 90 days.

We’ll be back next week with more events!

Editor’s note: Candidates who did not make the ballot have been stricken, making a few of these races obsolete. Also, I originally missed one candidate for Twinsburg School Board, but they have been added.

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Til next time!
Stay strong & stay joyful! 💖

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