Chester Voters Re-Elect Richter, Add Davis to Trustee Board
Incumbent Craig Richter and newcomer James Brandon Davis captured the two open Chester Township trustee seats Nov. 4 and will sit alongside Chairman Ken Radtke beginning Jan. 1, 2026.
Incumbent Craig Richter and newcomer James Brandon Davis captured the two open Chester Township trustee seats Nov. 4 and will sit alongside Chairman Ken Radtke beginning Jan. 1, 2026.
Out of 4,080 total votes cast, Richter received 1,859 and Davis, a write-in candidate, garnered 947, beating out fellow write-in candidates Jamie Alves, who had 280 votes, Juli Anne Mazzurco, who received 494 votes, and Michael Petruziello, who won 446 votes, according to the final unofficial results of the Geauga County Board of Elections.
As of 12:30 a.m. Nov. 5, there were 54 write-in votes still unassigned, according to the elections board.
Richter has held his trustee seat since first running in 2021 and ran again this year to continue serving the community, he wrote in his election questionnaire.
“I have a personal investment in my community, having grown up in it and raised my children here,” he said in the questionnaire. “I want to preserve the semi-rural feel for future generations. In addition, to ensure that township operations reflect the needs and values for our residents.”
He hopes to continue in his role with his “values of transparency and pragmatic governance,” he added.
“With property tax reform gaining traction, it’s more important than ever to engage residents in the township budget process and financial needs,” Richter said in his questionnaire.
Davis, an executive and business owner in engineering, construction and manufacturing, said his guiding value is being “in service,” which he believes he can fulfill in this role, he said in his election questionnaire.
“Friends and community leaders have suggested I run for office for a while, and the circumstances and timing (of) this election seemed to align to be a right time for me to be in service to the community in this way,” Davis said. “I bring some unique perspectives to the role, including being both an active business executive and as a trustee with a young family.”
Davis provided a list of four goals he would like to achieve as trustee.
“Today, my immediate focuses are one, expand transparency and communication, including streaming and recording meetings. Two, proactively work to support and enhance our commercial districts. Specifically, I would like the township to take some proactive roles with abandoned properties. Three, focus on continuous improvement and making sure we are bringing good services to the community that are effective and efficient. Four, work to protect our large-lot size semi-rural zoning, while also exploring all the options that allow seniors to age in place without leaving our great township.”
Neither Davis nor Richter could be reached for comment prior to press deadline Tuesday evening.
