If you don’t think your vote matters, the Summit County commissioner’s race of November 1966 provides a valuable lesson. The election was so close that it took nearly a month before the final results were known.
Amid the twists and turns, each candidate thought he won … and each thought he lost.
Democrat Victor Herbert, 38, and Republican Richard E. Slusser, 44, ran in the Nov. 8 election to succeed Commissioner Oren D. Carter, a Democrat who was stepping down after winning office in 1944. Fifty years ago, the job paid $13,400 a year (about $100,000 today).
Herbert, a sales engineer for Goodyear’s aviation products division, served in the U.S. Air Force in the Korean War. He was an Akron at-large councilman from 1964-1965 and previously ran for Ward 8 councilman, state legislator and Akron mayor. In the May 1966 primary, he beat Democrats Russell Brundage and Raymond Woodard, capturing more votes than the two combined.
Slusser, president of Slusser Insurance Agency, served in the Army in World War II and was the son of former Mayor Charles Slusser. Twice before, he was the Republican nominee for county commissioner but lost both elections. He ran unopposed in this primary.
“I believe experience ought to be one of the most important qualifications for public office,” Herbert said on the campaign trail. “But experience can be good or bad, different or indifferent. Only the public at the polls, on the basis of the record and demonstrated performance, can judge the relative merits of candidates for office … their interest and sincerity, their courage and impartiality, and their ability to get things done.”
Hoping to become the first Republican elected as commissioner since 1942, Slusser criticized the Democratic incumbents — Carter, John Poda and Charles F. Madden Jr. — as “Rip Van Winkles” who were “famous for sleeping through matters of great import.”
Slusser pledged to safeguard the budget, eliminate waste and give taxpayers the most for their vote. “This is a job that’s too big for politics,” he noted. “County commissioners are responsible for over 25 million tax dollars. That is why you want honesty, ability and hard work.”
After the polls closed 50 years ago, newspaper reporters could almost hear the stomachs churning at the Summit County Board of Elections. The commissioner’s race was the closest in memory.
With more than 140,000 ballots cast, Slusser had a 153-vote edge and was declared the winner by an eyelash. Unofficial returns gave Slusser 71,989 votes to 71,836 for Herbert, but the Democrat declined to concede defeat, saying the outcome was still “up in the air” as the board began its official vote count.
He wasn’t kidding. Ten days later, the board reversed itself, saying Herbert was the winner by a mere eight votes — the thinnest margin of victory in county politics. Don McFadden, director of the board of elections, blamed a tabulation error on election night for the change.
It was deja vu for Slusser, who thought he had edged Democrat Brundage by 70 votes in the 1962 election only to find Brundage won by 448 votes in the official count.
This time, Slusser asked for a recount. “If the election does not turn out my way, at least I and my supporters will know who actually won,” he said.
He said he was not trying to cast suspicion on the integrity of any booth workers. “I’m looking only at the element of human error,” he said.
Led by Chairman Gene Waddell, Summit County Republicans paid $3,890 for a recount of all 793 precincts, sifting through more than 151,000 ballots. Members of both parties closely monitored the recount. Slusser and Herbert’s eyes glazed over as they sat in a room with one counter each and a board official. Sometimes the results were difficult to ascertain because voters didn’t clearly mark their “X” on the ballot.
On Dec. 1, the final results were announced: Herbert 72,379 and Slusser 72,045. The Democrat didn’t lose by 153 votes or win by eight votes. He won by 334 votes — and that was official.
Herbert found the victory “gratifying,” but admitted: “I would have liked it to be by a little larger margin, like 20,000 votes or so.”
Calling the loss “very disappointing,” Slusser said he wouldn’t ask for another recount.
“I wouldn’t have believed that lightning could strike the same way twice,” he said.
Slusser said he would have to think twice or maybe three times before running again. “I’m not going to close the door, but when you suffer a defeat like this, and in this way, you’ve got to be a little gun shy,” he said.
Herbert quit his Goodyear job to be a full-time commissioner. In January, he joined fellow Democrats Poda and Madden on the commission.
In November 1968, Madden easily won re-election with 107,893 votes. Also winning office with 105,393 votes was none other than Slusser! After being drafted to run again, he succeeded Poda, the victim of a stunning upset in the primary.
This time, Slusser didn’t need a recount.
“I think I will be able to work very well with Madden,” Slusser told the Beacon Journal. “We’ve been friends for years and we see eye to eye on most issues.” Then he added: “I will make an attempt to get along with Herbert.”
There was friction, to be sure, but the political adversaries found common ground. Their accomplishments included creating the sanitary engineering department, modernizing the county’s phone system, improving sewer service, extending waterlines and closing the outdated county home.
Slusser served two terms before retiring in 1976 and returning to the insurance agency. He advocated adoption of a charter form of government in Summit County, eliminating the position of commissioner, and was pleased when such a system was approved in 1981. Slusser was 72 years old when he died in 1994.
Herbert resigned as commissioner in 1972 for a post at the Ohio Department of Commerce and helped create Ohio’s first consumer protection agency. A businessman, author, songwriter and inventor, he was 85 when he died in 2014.
Despite their differences, Herbert and Slusser, a Democrat and a Republican, worked together for the benefit of the public. Modern politicians could learn from their example.
Beacon Journal copy editor Mark J. Price is the author of the book Lost Akron from The History Press. He can be reached at 330-996-3850 or mjprice@thebeaconjournal.com.