Lisa Lewins jumped out to an early lead over Morgan McIntosh in the race to finish out the late Richard Regovich's term as Lake County commissioner, according to unofficial returns released Tuesday night. Lewins pulled 22,885 votes, or 56.91%, to McIntosh's 17,326 votes, or 43.09% — but with none of the county's 163 Election Day precincts yet reporting, the race was far from settled.
Early Numbers Come With a Big Asterisk
The Lake County Board of Elections released the unofficial tally at 7:49 p.m., according to Cleveland.com. That count included only early in-person and mail ballots, meaning none of the county's 163 Election Day precincts had reported results at the time the numbers went public. In other words, the bulk of the county's in-person Election Day vote still had to be added to the mix.
Whoever ultimately wins will serve out the remainder of Regovich's term, which runs through Jan. 1, 2029. Regovich died Nov. 26, 2025, and McIntosh was appointed to fill the vacant seat on Jan. 6, per the same report. McIntosh, a Republican and former Concord Township trustee, has held the commissioner post since that appointment, while Lewins, a Democrat, is challenging him for the right to keep it through the end of the term.
Candidates Staked Out Different Priorities
Lewins, who serves as director of the Lake County Historical Society, built her campaign around reviewing county operations and addressing housing, infrastructure and school funding, the outlet reported. She said her first priority in office would be assessing county buildings, equipment and staffing to improve services. Lewins also pointed to problems at the Lake County dog shelter, a dispute over maintenance costs along Ohio 2, and county tax reductions she said cost school districts revenue. She has argued the county needs more affordable housing options for first-time buyers, seniors looking to downsize and newcomers moving to the area, and has cited four decades of experience in management, marketing, sales, education, entrepreneurship and nonprofit development — including her family's founding of the Candoren Guest House in Painesville in 2019.
McIntosh framed his case around steady leadership and stronger cooperation among local governments and nonprofits. He said the county faces rising costs for infrastructure and services, reductions in state and federal funding, and pressure to lower local taxes. His proposed fix centers on sharing services and eliminating duplicate expenses to control costs while maintaining or improving what the county provides residents. McIntosh spent 20 years as president of AMFM Inc., a manufacturing company in Willoughby, before entering local government.
A Similar Pattern in the County's Other Commissioner Race
Lake County voters were also deciding a second commissioner seat Tuesday, and the early pattern there looked much the same. Democrat Tom Trombley led Republican incumbent John Plecnik in the early count for a full four-year term, with Trombley pulling 22,897 votes (56.51%) to Plecnik's 17,620 votes (43.49%), according to the same Cleveland.com report. As with the Lewins-McIntosh contest, that lead reflected only early in-person and mail ballots, not the Election Day precincts still to be counted.
Both commissioner races had been previewed ahead of time in a candidate questionnaire published by the News-Herald on Oct. 10, giving voters a side-by-side look at where the four candidates stood before ballots were cast. With 163 precincts still to be tallied, Lake County residents will need to wait for additional returns before either commissioner race is settled.
