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David Skolnick

Dave Joyce, Bill Johnson hard to beat

The U.S. House district lines remain uncertain as the Republican-drawn map approved by the Ohio Redistricting Commission awaits a decision on its constitutionality by the Ohio Supreme Court. But no matter what the court decides, the deadline for Democratic and Republican candidates to file for those House seats was a week ago. While independents are likely for some or even several of those districts, let’s look at where we are today in the Mahoning Valley. History shows it’s difficult to beat sitting House members. It becomes even more challenging when incumbents have been ...

Why map splits Valley district

Even if the Ohio Supreme Court determines the latest congressional map approved by the Ohio Redistricting Commission is unconstitutional, it’s highly unlikely that the final outcome would put Mahoning and Trumbull counties in the same district. Paul Sracic, a Youngstown State University political science professor, told me before the map came out that “keeping the Valley together is not that much of a priority. They have so many other problems and priorities that this isn’t one of them.” The map introduced by state Senate President Matt Huffman, R-Lima, a commission member, ...

Candidates fund for themselves

Asking people for money is rarely fun. It’s probably more challenging if you’re wealthy but still are asking for campaign contributions. Several of the wealthiest Ohio Republican candidates for U.S. Senate are skipping those awkward discussions and writing their own checks, self-funding campaigns or at least coming as close as possible. If you didn’t know better, you’d think several of these Republican candidates are trying to buy the seat. Of course, we do know better. But the candidates have money to spend — with plenty left over — so that’s what they’re ...

New district maps still unfair

The second effort to pass state legislative maps went about as well as the first. Republicans, who make up five of the seven members of the Ohio Redistricting Commission, voted for maps that seem to disproportionately favor that political party over the objections of Democrats, and the matter is again before the Ohio Supreme Court to decide its constitutionality. On the surface the maps look like an improvement from those rejected 4-3 by the court Jan. 12. The initial maps gave Republicans the advantage in 65 of 99 House districts and in 23 of 33 Senate districts. The court ...

DeWine: Any of GOP will do

During a recent hour-plus interview with Gov. Mike DeWine, he said: “I’m a pragmatist. I take this world as I find it.” While he was talking about a different issue, it applies to how he answered a question I asked about supporting a Republican for the U.S. Senate seat up for grabs this year. DeWine is a longtime Republican officeholder and one of the most familiar political names in Ohio. He’s seeking re-election to a second four-year term as governor this year. But because of how he initially responded to the COVID-19 pandemic with curfews, closing businesses and face ...

New mapmaking draws skepticism

Now that the Ohio Supreme Court ruled Republican-drawn state legislative maps are unconstitutional, the question is: How will the Ohio Redistricting Commission, which approved the gerrymandered maps, react? Based on the questionable methods it used to draw the rejected maps, Ohioans should ...