Second primary still uncertain

April 22, 2022

It came as no surprise that the Ohio Supreme Court rejected the fourth set of state legislative maps; they were almost identical to the third set ruled unconstitutional. But the state could find itself in a real bind as Secretary of State Frank LaRose — a Republican member of the Ohio Redistricting Commission, which approve the four sets of maps — says Aug. 2 is the latest the state can hold a primary for state legislative races, and this past Wednesday was basically the deadline to get the maps in place. Republicans were hoping a three-member federal judicial panel in the ...

Trump rally goes elsewhere

April 15, 2022

After being rejected at least twice — by the Canfield and Portage County fairgrounds — former President Donald Trump will have a rally April 23 at the Delaware County Fairgrounds. Mahoning and Portage counties were once reliably Democratic — particularly Mahoning. But that’s not the ...

75% likely won’t vote this spring

April 8, 2022

Turnout during primaries, except when there’s a competitive presidential one, rarely attract much interest. As local election officials frequently say: It is those nonpresidential races that really affect people’s lives. Turnout predictions for the May 3 primary are expected to be poor, when about 75 percent of registered voters probably won’t bother to cast ballots. But even with confusion and lack of interest caused by plans for two primaries this year, the projected turnout here still isn’t that different from the past two statewide primaries. In 2018, turnout was ...

Maps again face court scrutiny

April 1, 2022

To paraphrase The Who: “Meet the new maps, same as the old maps.” Ohio Redistricting Commission Republicans chose to have a GOP staffer put together state legislative maps virtually the same as those rejected March 16 by the Ohio Supreme Court instead of waiting for outside consultants hired by the body to finish their work. “There seems to be no end to the arrogance of the supermajority,” state Sen. Vernon Sykes of Akron, a Democrat on the commission, said. State Senate President Matt Huffman, R-Lima, said there wasn’t time to wait for the end product from the ...

GOP Senate race getting ugly

March 25, 2022

The Republican race for the U.S. Senate seat in Ohio got ugly in a hurry. While some of the candidates had previously criticized their opponents, primarily questioning their loyalty to former President Donald Trump and ability to lead, two debates in the past week have escalated tensions. There was nearly a fight between investment banker Mike Gibbons and former state Treasurer Josh Mandel. The two got into a heated argument during a debate last Friday in Gahanna with Mandel talking about Gibbons’ investments and Gibbons taking exception to the comments. Mandel said: “Down one ...

DeWine bows out of debate

March 18, 2022

While the numerous candidates running in the primaries for U.S. senator and governor agreed to participate in debates organized by the Ohio Debate Commission, the decision by Gov. Mike DeWine not to participate triggered cancellation of the Republican gubernatorial debate. DeWine declined the invitation to participate in the debate scheduled for 11 a.m. March 29 at Central State University. The Republican candidates challenging him are former state Rep. Jim Renacci, ex-state Rep. Ron Hood and Joe Blystone, a farmer born in East Liverpool. DeWine’s opponents are running against ...