County’s O’Briens left funds in bank

State senator lost re-election campaign, while representative barely held on to seat

State Sen. Sean O'Brien and state Rep. Michael J. O'Brien had a lot of money left in their campaign funds after this election.

For the former, it didn't work out as he lost his re-election bid, while it nearly came back to bite the latter who spent little in the final days of the campaign and won by only 0.74 of a percent.

Sean O'Brien, D-Bazetta, lost by 2 percent to Republican Sandra O'Brien of Lenox in the Ohio Senate 32nd District race, even though he raised and spent significantly more money than her.

In the post-general election finance period, between Oct. 15 and Dec. 4, Sean O'Brien raised $9,850 with all but $250 coming from political action committees compared to $1,754.38 for his challenger.

He also spent $16,531.37 during the post-general period with $10,334.45 going to BaughmanMerrill of San Francisco for advertising, while his opponent spent only $857.67.

However, Sandra O'Brien received $79,687.03 in in-kind contributions from the Ohio Republican Senate Campaign Committee between Oct. 22 and Dec. 1 -- with most of it before the Nov. 3 election -- for commercials, ad production costs, campaign literature and other voter contact efforts.

Before Oct. 22, O'Brien's campaign received a mere $600 from the Republican Senate committee on July 16 she used for a campaign photo.

Sean O'Brien had $188,232.79 in his campaign fund as of Dec. 4. The day after the election, O'Brien said he spent as much as he could, pointing to the $192,204.78 in expenditures during the pre-general period from May 30 to Oct. 14.

The senator-elect had $3,174.31 in her fund as of Dec. 4 after barely raising or spending money for this campaign.

Between May 30 and Dec. 4, she received $3,714.75 in contributions and loaned $3,260 to her campaign.

In comparison, Sean O'Brien raised $233,274.04 between May 30 and Dec. 4.

64TH DISTRICT

Michael J. O'Brien narrowly beat Republican Martha Yoder of West Farmington by 0.74 of a percent.

O'Brien beat Yoder twice before: by 10.86 percent in 2016 and by 9.6 percent in 2018.

O'Brien spent only $2,302 during the post-general period compared to $32,330.87 for Yoder.

As has been the case through this campaign, O'Brien relied on contributions from PACs, while Yoder loaned her committee much of the money it received.

During the post-general period, O'Brien received $11,250 with all but $250 from PACs. The biggest contributor was $5,000 from Operating Engineers Local 66 District 2 in Pittsburgh.

During the same time period, Yoder received $2,775 in contributions and loaned $21,200 to her campaign.

She also received $21,619.66 in in-kind contributions with the Ohio Republican Party giving her $17,477.31 for direct mail and the rest coming out of her pocket for Facebook ads, other advertising, postage and her campaign website.

In addition to the $21,200 in this year's post-general period, Yoder also gave $17,400 to her campaign earlier this year.

During her three unsuccessful races against O'Brien, Yoder has loaned $87,600 to her campaigns.

Yoder's biggest expenses in the post-general time were $14,700 to IHeartMedia for radio commercials and $11,600 back to the ORP to help fund the direct mail costs.

In comparison, O'Brien spent only $2,302: $1,542 to Farm and Dairy for a newspaper ad on Oct. 15, a $750 contribution on Oct. 16 to the campaign of state Rep. Gil Blair, and $5 bank service charges on Oct. 31 and Nov. 30.

In the pre-general election period, from May 30 to Oct. 14, O'Brien spent $23,917.09 to $14,202.19 for Yoder.

O'Brien, who won his fourth two-year term, had $60,382.61 in his campaign fund as of Dec. 4. He cannot run for re-election in 2022 because of the state's term-limits law.

Yoder had $111.17 left in her fund.

63RD DISTRICT

Running for elected office for the first time, Republican Mike Loychik of Cortland, who beat Blair by 8.34 percent, received six times the amount of his Democratic opponent in the post-general period.

Loychik received more from just one contributor than the $8,282.19 Blair of Weathersfield received in total between Oct. 15 and Dec. 4.

Brian Colleran of Chagrin Falls, a Republican megadonor, gave $10,000 to Loychik on Oct. 26. Colleran, a nursing home executive, hosted President Donald Trump at his home for a July 2019 fundraiser and has given about $1.5 million to Republicans since 2004, including $600,000 to Trump's campaigns in 2016 and this year.

During the post-general period, Loychik received $51,440 in contributions with $27,250 coming from the committee of Ohio House Republicans. Leading the way was Majority Leader Bill Seitz of Green with $8,000 that was given a week after the election, and state Rep. Al Cutrona of Canfield with $7,000.

During the pre-general period, Loychik raised $83,097.35 with most of it from the campaigns of Republican House members. He also received $7,915.20 from the ORP in in-kind contributions for campaign mail during that period.

Loychik spent $86,770.38 in the post-general time with $22,000 to Strategic Media Placement of Columbus for television commercials, $18,034 to IHeartMedia for radio ads, $15,016.40 to WFMJ for TV commercials and $10,000 to Cumulus Media for radio ads.

While Blair received $11,555.55 from the ODP during the pre-general period in in-kind contributions for digital advertising and postage -- and paid the $6,000 back to the party for the postage -- he received no financial help from the party during the post-general period.

Blair was appointed to the seat by the Ohio House Democratic Caucus in May 2019 to fill the term of Glenn Holmes, who resigned to take an appointment to the Ohio Parole Board.

Blair raised $8,282.19 in the post-general time with $3,750 coming from PACs and spent $9,552.72 with $8,000 to 2 Ticks and the Dog Productions of Warren for advertising being his biggest expense. He was left with only $621.22 as of Dec. 4.

Loychik didn't have much more than Blair as of Dec. 4 -- $2,358.03.