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David Skolnick

Mahoning, Trumbull are pivotal to statewide candidates

For decades, Mahoning and Trumbull were reliable Democratic counties. If Democratic candidates didn’t get at least 60% of the vote in Mahoning and at least 55% support in Trumbull, they stood no chance of winning Ohio. Even with those vote totals, Democrats sometimes would be disappointed in the results from the two counties. I recall during a post-2000 presidential election forum that an Ohio Democratic Party official specifically criticized the results in Mahoning and Trumbull as being a key reason why Democrat Al Gore lost the state to Republican George W. Bush by 3.51%. Gore ...

Observations on Trump’s Youngstown rally

When you attend a Donald Trump rally, there are certain things to expect. You’re going to wait around before anyone speaks, you’re going to wait even longer for the president to deliver his speech, his is not going to be a short speech, it’s going to go off on tangents that have nothing to do with the matter at hand, the crowd is going to eat it up and there’s going to be incidents between Trump’s supporters and those who feel the need to protest inside the building. While there were many people protesting near Youngstown’s Covelli Centre, there were at least four people ...

Ciccone appears safe despite controversies

Despite causing numerous problems and great embarrassment to Mahoning County, Clerk of Courts Michael Ciccone isn’t going anywhere. When I last wrote a column about Ciccone, a Republican, nearly 10 months ago, the county Republican and Democratic parties were united in an effort to have him removed from office. Ciccone refuses to resign. The parties accused Ciccone of repeatedly abusing the authority of his office, using “discriminatory and degrading language, and failing to “perform core statutory duties.” Since then, it’s only gotten worse for Ciccone in terms of job ...

Can gas tax holiday boost Ramaswamy’s campaign?

With the price of gas, particularly diesel fuel, out of control, the Republican-controlled state Legislature will meet in special session Wednesday to vote on eliminating Ohio’s gas tax for 90 days. The session came at the urging of Vivek Ramaswamy, the GOP nominee for governor. Ramaswamy’s call for a gas holiday came about 6 1/2 hours after Amy Acton, the Democratic candidate for governor, said one was needed. A skeptic could describe what is happening as a political ploy as Ramaswamy and his allies have spent millions of dollars to discredit Acton and he needs something to help ...

Gerrymandering, big money make state legislative races in Valley noncompetitive

Gerrymandering and money — largely provided by special interest groups — mean there will be very few competitive state legislative races in Ohio, or the country for that matter. It’s no different in the Mahoning Valley. When the Ohio Redistricting Commission — consisting of five Republicans and two Democrats — unanimously approved the state Legislature maps in September 2023, its members gave the Mahoning Valley only one competitive district among the five House and two Senate seats in its boundaries. That contested seat is the 64th Ohio House District with state Rep. ...

Conspiracy theories on Acton altercation at fair condemned

While Amy Acton, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee, wasn’t attacked at the Canfield Fair, we don’t know what could have happened had her security detail not intercepted an armed man heading toward her, knocking people down. But it’s disturbing to read and hear conspiracy theorists dismiss the altercation as a hoax on the toxic playground known as social media. We don’t know the intentions of Patrick Havas, the 38-year-old Canfield man accused of lunging toward Acton at the Canfield Fair on Sunday. That will be up to a court to decide. Havas faces four misdemeanor counts: ...