County Commission hopefuls again include former Dayton mayor

4 Republicans, 3 Democrats make filing deadline for open Montgomery County Commission seat.

The decision by Dan Foley to run for the Statehouse left a Montgomery County Commission seat wide open, and four people filed as Republicans, including a former Dayton mayor, while three Democrats met a Wednesday deadline to turn in petitions, according to the Board of Elections.

Those who filed as Republicans include: Doug Barry, a current Miami Twp. trustee and owner of BarryStaff, a Dayton staffing company; Bill DeFries of Englewood, owner of Copp Integrated Systems in Dayton and a Beavercreek restaurant, Beef O Brady’s; Gary Leitzell a former mayor of Dayton, and Bob Matthews, a former Miami Twp. trustee.

Three Democrats turned in petitions, including Carolyn Rice of Kettering, who has been Montgomery County treasurer for 11 years, Dr. Don Shaffer, a former Clayton council member and chiropractor with a West Milton practice, and Daryl Ward, of Dayton, the senior pastor at Omega Baptist Church in Dayton.

If two or more petitions from each party are certified later this month, it would set up contested May 8 primaries for both parties to see which candidate will appear on the Nov. 6 ballot.

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