Maps show Shayla Favor won working-class neighborhoods in county prosecutor primary

The Franklin County Board of Elections has released the final precinct-by-precinct results of last month's primary elections, which show distinct voting patterns in the Democratic primary for Franklin County prosecutor, a race among Shayla Favor , Anthony Pierson and Natalia Harris.

Favor, a member of the Columbus City Council, won the Democratic nomination with around 40.9% of the vote. Pierson, deputy chief counsel in retiring Franklin County Prosecutor Gary Tyack's office, got about 35.1% of the vote, followed by Harris, the Delaware city attorney, at 24%.

Favor will face local defense attorney John Rutan, who ran unopposed in the Republican primary for county prosecutor. Because Franklin County is heavily Democratic, Favor has a significant advantage in the November general election.

The Franklin County Republican Party initially endorsed Rutan but has since revoked that endorsement after Rutan made a series of controversial comments to The Dispatch . Among other things, Rutan claimed, without evidence, that previous Franklin County elections had been stolen. Rutan will remain on the November ballot.

Overall, only about 16% of registered voters voted in either the Democratic or Republican primaries in Franklin County.

Favor won Columbus proper, Pierson took wealthier suburbs

Favor won Columbus overall with a 12-point lead over Pierson. She had a solid lead over Pierson and Harris in neighborhoods like North and South Linden, Northland, Olde Towne East, Franklinton and areas around Ohio State University. Pierson fared better in Clintonville and some neighborhoods on the West and South Sides. Favor won the suburb of Reynoldsburg with an 8-point lead over Pierson.

Pierson, meanwhile, took the majority of votes in wealthier parts of the county, including the cities of Upper Arlington (with a 20-point lead over Favor), Worthington (18-point lead), Dublin (15-point lead), Bexley (10-point lead) and New Albany (5-point lead). He also won in Grove City (8-point lead), Westerville (8-point lead) and Hilliard (5-point lead).

A historic race among three Black candidates

In a historic Democratic primary, three black candidates, two of whom were women, campaigned for Franklin County prosecutor — a position that has never been held by a woman or a Black person .

Before joining the council, Favor was an assistant city attorney for five years in the environmental division. She has criticized the current Franklin County prosecutor, Gary Tyack, for taking too long to resolve cases brought against police officers for fatal shootings.

Pierson was endorsed by all three county commissioners and Sheriff Dallas Baldwin.

If she wins this fall, Favor will have to grapple with a backlog of murder cases, some involving juveniles , recent Ohio law changes around self-defense that have resulted in more acquittals in killings, and handling criminal cases against local police officers .

Peter Gill covers immigration, New American communities and religion for the Dispatch in partnership with Report for America. You can support work like his with a tax-deductible donation to Report for America at: bit.ly/3fNsGaZ .

pgill@dispatch.com

@pitaarji

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Maps show Shayla Favor won working-class neighborhoods in county prosecutor primary