Three Stow Residents to Vie for Summit County Council Seat

McIntire to Challenge Long-time Representative Rodgers in Republican Primary

Although we just concluded an election in November to determine local political offices in Stow, we have another one coming up in March that may have implications for one newly re-elected City Council member.

Three Stow residents filed petitions by the Dec. 20 deadline with the Summit County Board of Elections to run for a seat on Summit County Council in District 3. Gloria Rodgers, a Stow Republican who has been serving as the District 3 representative since 2009, the longest-serving woman on county council, will face a primary challenge by current Stow City Council President Jeremy McIntire, who just won his re-election in November for his third two-year term on council.

Summit County Council candidates, left to right: Gloria Rodgers, Jeremy McIntire, David Licate

The winner of the March 19 primary contest will go on to the Nov. 5 general election where he or she will face David Licate, a Stow Democrat who lost re-election to Stow City Council last month by 145 votes to McIntire for the third At-Large seat.

While all three candidates herald from Stow, the District 3 seat for which they are running encompasses a larger area in Summit County. The county council district map was redrawn in 2021 by the Summit County Nonpartisan Independent Council Fair Districting Commission as a result of population changes throughout the county but was not scheduled to take effect until next year. The 2024 District 3 seat will represent residents in Stow, Hudson, Silver Lake, Munroe Falls and Boston Heights.

Similar to how a city council operates, Summit County Council works with the Summit County Executive’s office and has funding and legislative authority over a broad range of operations, including countywide social service agencies, the Summit County metro parks, the Summit County court system and sheriff’s office.

Learn about these candidates' credentials on their websites: