Staff photo / Renee Fox Trumbull County voters select Niki Frenchko, 46, of Warren, for their next Trumbull County commissioner, ousting Democrat Dan Polivka from office.

WARREN — Niki Frenchko ended Dan Polivka’s 16-year run as Trumbull County commissioner after taking 52 percent of the vote Tuesday, according to unofficial and incomplete election results from the Trumbull County Board of Elections.

Polivka received 48 percent of the vote.

In another race, Democratic incumbent Mauro Cantalamessa held onto his county commissioner seat after a challenge from independent political newcomer Denny Malloy. Cantalamessa, 43, of Warren, won 54 percent of the vote, and Malloy, 50, of Bazetta, brought in 46 percent of the vote, according to incomplete and unofficial results from the board of elections.

Frenchko, a 46-year-old Republican from Warren, said she was honored to be selected as county commissioner. The win has extra meaning in 2020, the 100-year anniversary of the year the Constitution was amended to guarantee women the right to vote, Frenchko said.

“It is an exceptional honor to win this, this year, because of the centennial of women’s suffrage. That is important to me. And this was not about red vs. blue. My campaign was about working together for what is in the best interest of the community. The voters got to decide this. I worked hard to prove myself to all in Trumbull County, and I’m grateful and honored they trust me to serve them. I will do my best and make everyone proud,” Frenchko said.

There has not been a woman on Trumbull County’s board of commissioners since Republican Margaret Dennison, who was on the board from the late 1970s until 1984. And, Frenchko said, she believes she is the first person with Hispanic heritage to serve on the board.

Polivka, 56, who is also the chairman of the Trumbull County Democratic Party, first was appointed to the board of commissioners in 2004. Before that, he served on Warren City Council from 1983 to 2004. Polivka thanked the people who voted for him, supported him and worked for his campaign, and said he would find ways to help the county in the future.

“Trumbull County has been good to me, and I am pleased I was able to serve the residents of Trumbull County,” Polivka said.

Frenchko campaigned on getting rid of the “old boys’ club” and said she is ready to get to work serving all of Trumbull County’s residents.

Frenchko said she campaigned in a way that invited bipartisan participation because local issues are not partisan.

“Local issues can bring together Democrats and Republicans and independents to support policies that benefit people on all sides. People were ready for a commissioner who would be an advocate for them, and my message resonates with people in both parties,” Frenchko said.

Frenchko said Polivka was in office for a long time, but her election will bring new blood to the office.

CANTALAMESSA VS. MALLOY

Cantalamessa said he is ready to get back to work now that the campaign is over. Commissioners in the next few weeks and months are expected to make decisions about joining the Western Reserve Transit Authority and decide how to handle personnel leadership issues in the sanitary engineer’s office.

Malloy said he believes he pushed Cantalamessa and challenged the establishment with his campaign.

“If we can get this many votes as an independent candidate who only had a few months to campaign because of the attempts to block my candidacy, the establishment should be worried. Gone are the days of no one running against them, of people being afraid of the machine. There will be more challenges from me, I am not going away,” Malloy said.

“At the end of the day, we are very different candidates,” Cantalamessa said. “I mean what I say and say what I mean. I can’t say the same of the other side. I stand by my record of achievement and transparency. There was very little substance or vision or plan laid out from the other side, and I think the voters saw through it.”

Cantalamessa said the campaign against Malloy was “unique,” but he is ready to get back to work on infrastructure projects and economic development.

Although the results include tallies from early voting, absentee votes and in-person voting on Election Day for all 158 precincts in Trumbull County, the numbers still are considered incomplete and unofficial. Absentee ballots that were postmarked by Nov. 2 and arrive at the county board of elections by Nov. 13 still have to be counted, as do provisional ballots. The election results are expected to be certified by Nov. 18.