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David Skolnick

Intriguing primaries in Trumbull

There are some intriguing primaries in Trumbull County and incredibly, no primaries for any Mahoning County executive or judicial branch position. And the Trumbull County Democratic primary for county engineer especially fascinates me. David DeChristofaro, who was forced to leave the job in 2011 on criminal convictions that have since been expunged, is challenging incumbent Randy Smith, who succeeded him. While engineer isn’t the most exciting position in politics, each candidate has an obvious dislike for the other. The primary should be a doozy. Commissioner Dan Polivka ...

Few primaries expected in Mahoning while several anticipated in Trumbull

Wednesday is the filing deadline for the March 17 primary, and it looks like there will only be a few — or possibly no — contested primaries for offices in Mahoning County. It’s a different story in Trumbull County where there should be a number of primaries. As of Thursday, no one has filed to challenge any of the incumbents — Democrats or Republicans — in Mahoning County. That will change by the filing deadline, but don’t be surprised if there are no contested primaries in March for county positions. Several of the incumbents have been there for a long time and few ...

Republicans to challenge Ryan

The number of Republican candidates interested in taking on U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan next year is quite remarkable. So far, four have pulled nominating petitions from the board of elections in Summit County, the most populous county in the 13th Congressional District, with one filing — and at least two more are campaigning and almost certainly will file by the Dec. 18 deadline. There’s obviously a great deal of dissatisfaction among Republicans with Ryan, D-Howland, who was first elected to Congress in 2002. But a jam-packed primary in which the candidates will have to use the ...

Ready on stand-your-ground bill

Ohio Senate President Larry Obhof, in the Mahoning Valley earlier this week, left me with the impression that a stand-your-ground law is probably going to move quicker in the General Assembly than the governor's gun reform plan. Obhof, R-Medina, didn't come right out and say that, but when I asked about both issues, he seemed much more interested in stand-your-ground. "I'm a co-sponsor of a bill to change our rules on duty to retreat," he said. "That would put us in line with a large majority of the states now. Not always a reliable source, but if you go to Wikipedia and take a look ...

Local Trump enthusiasm high

The enthusiasm level for Donald Trump in the Mahoning Valley remains high as evidenced by a packed crowd hanging on every word spoken by U.S. Rep. Devin Nunes, the ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, as he praised the president and compared Democrats to cockroaches. Nunes, R-Tulare, Calif., spoke last week to an audience of 560 at a Mahoning County Republican Party dinner at the Maronite Center in Youngstown. This came on the second day of the committee’s impeachment inquiry into Trump. Before Nunes arrived, I spoke with a number of people at the dinner to get ...

Tim Ryan poised for key House role

A recent announcement from a Gary, Ind., congressman that he wouldn’t seek re-election next year could result in a huge benefit to the Mahoning Valley. That Democratic congressman, U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky, heads the powerful House Appropriations Committee’s Defense Subcommittee. It’s the largest appropriations subcommittee, with a $622 billion budget. Visclosky’s retirement means U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Howland — should he win re-election next year to his 10th two-year term — is poised to become defense’s vice chairman or possibly its chairman. Of course, the Democrats ...