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David Skolnick

Dems look for Johnson challenger

All of the Mahoning Valley is in a congressional district that clearly favors Republicans. But between the map and 2022 looking like a good year for Republicans, several top Democrats in the new 6th Congressional District, which has Mahoning and Trumbull as its two most-populous counties, aren’t planning to challenge six-term incumbent Bill Johnson, R-Marietta, for the seat. Even though the two counties, which were once reliable Democratic areas, make up about 55 percent of the new 6th District’s population, Johnson has a clear advantage against any Valley Democrat. This is ...

Political heavyweights eye seats

Michael J. O’Brien, Frank Fuda and Dan Polivka have more than 100 years of elected experience between them and are three of the most successful Democratic politicians in the Mahoning Valley. And all three have big decisions to make soon about their political futures. At least two of them will run next year for Trumbull County commissioner with an outside chance that all three will seek the office. Fuda, who is in his fourth four-year term, said he definitely will seek re-election next year — but he’s undecided whether it’ll be as a Democrat or independent. “I have a ...

GOP not seeking bipartisanship

Undoubtedly the congressional map Republicans in the state Legislature will approve by the end of this month won’t get enough support from Democrats to enact it for 10 years. Republicans aren’t interested in that — and based on how the process is going, they believe they don’t need to be bipartisan. The Republican majority on the Ohio Redistricting Commission in September approved a four-year state legislative map that continues to give its party a supermajority rather than make compromises to get Democratic support for a 10-year map. The House and Senate Republicans ...

Anyone who lives in Ohio knows the state’s current fireworks law rarely is enforced. Neighborhoods can sound like war zones around July 4 — as well as the week before and, if there are leftover fireworks, the week after. The existing Ohio law permits the purchase of consumer-grade fireworks, but not their detonation within the state’s borders. Yeah, right. The only permissible items in Ohio are novelties that produce smoke, pop and / or sparkle. Otherwise, it’s a first-degree misdemeanor to explode fireworks in the state. Ohio and Massachusetts are the only states in the ...

Do not ignore this election

There’s no way to sugarcoat it: This isn’t an exciting election year. There’s no presidential or statewide candidates on Tuesday’s ballot. There’s no congressional campaigns, even though several Senate candidates in the 2022 races already are campaigning actively. There isn’t a statewide ballot initiative as there have been in previous years. There’s not even countywide races and no countywide issues in Trumbull County on the ballot. There are two Mahoning County issues: a new 0.25 percent sales tax to raise about $9 million to pave more roads and improve bridges ...

It’s boom times for Tim Ryan’s fundraising

The ability of U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan’s Senate campaign to raise more money from donors and increase the amounts compared to others in the race is a surprisingly impressive feat. Over the years, I’ve mentioned Ryan’s struggles to attract donors despite being in the U.S. House for almost 19 years and during his failed presidential bid. When I asked about his impressive $2,511,219 haul in the third quarter, Ryan, D-Howland, said: “We’re going to be able to compete (with Republicans). We get less money per donor, but we have a lot more donors than they do. To be in this position, ...