Julie McNabb elected as Medina County commissioner

MEDINA — Julie McNabb was elected by Medina County's electorate to serve as county commissioner on Tuesday, according to unofficial election results. Republican McNabb ran against Democrat Cheryl Minichiello in the race for Medina County commissioner. With all 124 precincts reporting, McNabb received approximately 59 percent of the vote, which was 48,971 votes, while Minichiello had 33,264 votes, which was about 41 percent of the vote. McNabb has experience as a Westfield Village councilwoman and a small-business owner. She worked as a dispatcher at the Medina City Police Department before joining the family business, The Interior Design Studio & JK Gift Shop, which she now co-owns with her sister Katie Heinz. "I will start by saying that I am honored that the Medina community voted me in as their next Medina County commissioner, and I'm excited to get to work, truly," she said. "I hope they know that I'm going to bring the same work ethic and determination to the job as I did with the campaign." Minichiello has worked in engineering and spent more than 15 years teaching mathematics, chemistry, problem solving and group dynamics. She operated an advanced dog training business for dog performance competition, wrote a book on the advanced training platform that she developed and holds a private pilot single-engine land license and an instrument rating. "Basically, I entered the race for the purpose of serving the community I live in," she said. "I was hoping that people would not vote along party lines, and I was hoping that they would vote for candidates based on their qualifications. Basically, that's why I chose to run, so democracy is a choice, and people made a choice." McNabb will fill Commissioner Colleen Swedyk's position on the board of commissioners. Swedyk did not run for re-election this election cycle. Contact reporter Madisyn Woodring at 330-721-4049 or mwoodring@medina-gazette.com.