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David Skolnick

What went wrong with Mike Rulli’s winning campaign?

The day before the special 6th Congressional District election, a Republican I’ve known for years texted me: “You get the feeling tomorrow’s special is going to be a lot closer than people think? I do.” On the night of the election, the Republican texted me, “Looks like I even underestimated how bad he did.” Michael Rulli, a Republican state senator with two grocery stores in Mahoning County, beat unknown Democrat Michael L. Kripchak 54.7% to 45.3% in a district that has an 18% advantage for Republicans based on voting results in partisan statewide elections over the past ...

Congressional records studied

Various groups do studies of congressional members to paint a picture of the officeholders based on voting records and other actions they take. No study is perfect; the organizations looking at congressional records interpret them based on their political philosophies and biases. In just the past couple of weeks, a pair of studies stood out to me. I’ve written articles about the bipartisan studies done by the Lugar Center and Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy for years. The study reviews every bill, excluding resolutions, to determine if those introduced ...

Rulli favored in Congress race

Republican Michael Rulli is the heavy favorite to win the June 11 special election for the open 6th Congressional District seat, but Democrat Michael L. Kripchak isn’t throwing in the towel. “I’m going to be a blue congressman in a supposedly red district,” Kripchak said. When you look at the numbers, there’s nothing supposed about the district being solidly Republican. The district has an 18% advantage for Republicans based on voting trends in partisan statewide elections over the past decade. National Democrats aren’t getting involved in this special election even ...

Biden ballot access in doubt

If President Joe Biden is going to appear on the Nov. 5 ballot in Ohio, his campaign is likely going to have to file a lawsuit and be successful. As it currently stands, Ohio will be the only state in the nation not to include the sitting president who is seeking reelection on the ballot. Even though Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has ordered a special legislative session to try to get Biden on the ballot, there is no guarantee he will succeed. The issue started with the Democratic National Committee scheduling its convention, at which Biden will be formally nominated, for Aug. 19-22. Biden ...

Dems blast LaRose for voter purge

Ohio is undergoing a purge of inactive voters. Or as Secretary of State Frank LaRose described it, boards of elections are in the process of a “rigorous statewide election integrity initiative aimed at ensuring the accuracy of Ohio’s voter registration database.” Democrats criticized LaRose, a Republican, for the last purge which was in late September — right after overseas and military ballots were sent out for the November election — and canceled the registrations of nearly 27,000 Ohioans. Democrats are renewing that criticism. “Even after the extremely aggressive ...

Ohio Republican Senate committee spends big in two primaries

With only two Republican incumbent state senators facing opposition in the March 19 primary, the well-funded Republican Senate Campaign Committee had the luxury of spending in just those races. Between Jan. 1 and April 29, the RSCC spent a total of $1.04 million with $452,587 of it going to ...