GOP challenger Rick Hernandez has beaten Niki Frenchko in the Republican Primary for the Trumbull County Commissioner's seat currently held by Frenchko.

According to the Trumbull County Board of Elections unofficial results, Hernandez has beaten Frenchko by a total of 11,711 votes, or 59.34% of the vote with 158 of 158 of the precincts reporting.

Hernandez has been a trustee for Hubbard Township since 2017 and in that time worked to make the Hubbard Township Police Department financially stable and helped to turn the Joint Eagle Fire District from a volunteer fire department into a full time fire and EMT services.

His top priorities is to re-unite the Trumbull County Commissioner's Office, bring a new dog pound to the county and work with several entities to increase tourism to the county and bring in a commercial airliner for the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport.

Incumbent Commissioner Frenchko has held the position since 2020. She holds a Master's Degree in Public Administration, as well as an Ohio Social Work and Real Estate License. She's worked in compliance and local government planning and community development.

Recently, her time in office has been rocky. In January, A federal judge ruled that Frenchko's rights were violated by Trumbull County Sheriff Paul Monroe, Commissioner Mauro Cantalamessa and former Commissioner Frank Fude. 

This stemmed from an incident where Frenchko was unlawfully removed from a commissioner's meeting and arrested in 2022, which was caught on video by Frenchko.

Frenchko was also at the center of several other lawsuits claiming she made an unsafe or hostile work environment, made derogatory comments about Italian-Americans, discrimination and retaliation. These suits have been dismissed in court.

All of this leading up to the Trumbull County GOP withdrawing their support for her in the race and censuring her for alleged 'unprofessional' behavior. 

Hernandez will now face Democrat Daniel Polivka come the general election in November.

For complete election results click here.