BOWLING GREEN — Republican Secretary of State Jon Husted visited Lima, Findlay, Bowling Green, and his hometown of Montpelier, Ohio, Tuesday while declining to participate in a live televised debate with his Democratic opponent in Cleveland.

Mr. Husted visited the Wood County Board of Elections, bypassing Lucas County where he is embroiled in a lawsuit with Lucas County Republican Chairman Jon Stainbrook.

Mr. Husted reported early voting totals so far, saying that more than 400,000 absentee voter ballots have been returned by voters. But he lamented what is shaping up as a likely low turnout when the voting is done Tuesday.

“I have concerns that this election may prove to be one of those with lower voter turnout. We have no statewide ballot issue, no U.S. Senate race, and a pretty uncompetitive gubernatorial race,” Mr. Husted noted.

He encouraged people to vote because of the many local issues and candidates on the ballot, congressional races, state legislative races, and other statewide races. He noted that early voting is open on Saturday and Sunday, followed by 13 hours of voting on election day. Mr. Husted didn’t mention that voters could also vote on Monday 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

“There’s no reason if you care to vote that you shouldn’t be out there doing it,” Mr. Husted said.

He defended his decision to bypass the City Club of Cleveland debate with Democratic opponent state Sen. Nina Turner, and denied that his refusal to debate Ms. Turner contributes to that lack of interest.

“I think that what many of these joint appearances have turned into are nothing more than attack dogs and talking points and things like that, and in many cases it’s lowered the level of debate, not raised it,” Mr. Husted said.

“The issues in our race are very limited but they’ve been aired very publicly,” he said. Mr. Husted and Ms. Turner have been on opposite sides of a high-profile dispute over early voting that was decided last month by the U.S. Supreme Court.

In the debate held by City Club with Kevin Knedler, the Libertarian candidate, Ms. Turner criticized a Husted campaign commercial as “vicious, racist, and sexist” because it portrays her in black and white.

“It was deliberate that he would put me in black and white, to put it in the mind of voter, to paint me as the other,” Ms. Turner said.

Mr. Husted’s ad criticized her votes against a budget that included income tax cuts and a bill that banned texting while driving. The ad also criticized her for a tax delinquency and housing court violations at rental properties owned by Ms. Turner.

Mr. Husted said the ad was focused on substantive issues and had nothing to do with race.

Mr. Husted praised the quieter operations of the Lucas County Board of Elections since he forced a change in board membership earlier this year. Following an investigation of complaints of misbehavior and mismanagement, Mr. Husted dismissed Republican board members Tony DeGidio and Mr. Stainbrook, replacing them with Ottawa Hills lawyer Mark Wagoner and retired state appeals court Judge Peter Handwork.

“Things have been running much more smoothly in Lucas County since we made the change,” Mr. Husted said. He said the board was trying to get through the Nov. 4 election, after which, “they’ll transition more toward a long-term outlook.”

Mr. Stainbrook filed an appeal with the Ohio Supreme Court in opposition to the Wagoner and Handwork appointments, and a wrongful termination complaint pending with the Ohio State Personnel Board of Review. He won a round in the Supreme Court case Oct. 16 when the court denied a motion by Mr. Husted that he should be exempted from having to give an oral deposition.

Mr. Stainbrook disagreed with Mr. Husted that the Lucas County elections office is running smoother than it did under his membership on the board, saying he would address the issue after the election.

“We have a slate of candidates that we have to get elected and right now I’m working my hardest to get those Republican candidates elected. That’s my job. After the election Jon Husted will have to answer for what’s going on in Lucas County,” Mr. Stainbrook said.

Contact Tom Troy: tomtroy@theblade.com or 419-724-6058 or on Twitter @TomFTroy.

First Published October 29, 2014, 4:00 a.m.