Written by 
Pending petition validation and certification by the Marion County Board of Elections on February 17th, here are your Republican candidates for Marion County Commissioner.
One of these four individuals will be elected to replace current commissioner Mark Davis, who did not file to run for re-election, and will serve alongside commissioners Andy Appelfeller and Kevin Davidson.
Since there is no Democratic candidate, this election will come down to the Republican primary that will be held on Tuesday, the 5th of May 2026. The winner of the Republican primary will then appear unopposed on the ballot during the general election held on November 3rd.
The winner will take office in January 2027 and will serve a term of four years. According to the County Commissioner’s Association of Ohio, the salary for this position will be $81,150.00.
I’ve included the electoral history for the Marion County Commissioner races going back to 2014.
As you can see, this will be Mr. Schaber’s third attempt at this position, while Mr. Mooney will be running for a second time.
Mr. Schaber recently lost his seat on Marion City Council after being primaried by Ralph Smith and defeated by a tally of 63.07% to 36.93%.
Mr. Mooney challenged longtime commissioner Andy Appelfeller in the Republican primary held in March 2024, losing a fairly close election by a score of 53.49% to 46.51%.
Mr. Stiverson, who is currently serving as Chairman of the Marion County Republican Party, was unseated as commissioner back in 2022, losing to Mark Davis in the Republican primary by 56 votes.
This will be Ms. Neff’s first attempt at running for elected office.