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Incumbents haul in campaign cash

Tough time for some challengers

The incumbent Republicans in three state legislative races in the Mahoning Valley have significant financial advantages over their general election challengers.

Also, Republican Nick Santucci of Howland, who is running for the open 64th Ohio House District seat, has more than three times the amount of campaign cash in his fund than Vincent Peterson II of Howland, his Democratic opponent.

Meanwhile, Youngstown Councilwoman Lauren McNally doesn’t have a large surplus in her fund for the 59th House race. But Greg Beight of New Springfield, an independent challenger, hasn’t raised any money, and Poland Township Trustee Eric Ungaro, another independent candidate who won an Ohio Supreme Court case Thursday to get on the ballot, hasn’t collected contributions yet.

Candidates who ran in the Aug. 2 primary for state legislative seats, even if they were unopposed, had to file what are called post-primary reports with the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office. The reports are for financial activity between July 14 — almost three weeks before the primary — and Sept. 2 — a month after it ended.

In the three contested Aug. 2 primary races in the Mahoning Valley, the winners raised and spent more money than their opponents.

The state legislative primary was moved to Aug. 2 from May 3 because of unconstitutional maps. The maps currently being used are only good for this year’s election and will have to be redrawn in time for the 2024 election.

TRUMBULL COUNTY

Peterson raised considerably more money than Bria Bennett of Warren, who he beat in the 64th House District’s Democratic primary. He received 69 percent of the vote.

Peterson raised $45,768 in the post-primary period with $25,000 coming from the Ohio House Democratic Caucus and $13,704 from Reid Hoffman, a venture capitalist from Menlo, Calif., who co-founded LinkedIn. Hoffman gave the same amount to Peterson in the pre-primary period.

Peterson spent $17,574 in the post-primary period with $8,790 to 2 Ticks & The Dog Productions Inc. of Warren being his largest expense. That money went to buy television commercial time and for the production of a campaign video.

Peterson had $49,037 in his fund as of Sept. 2, which included carryover from previous reporting periods.

In comparison, Bennett raised $6,156 in the post-primary period with $2,000 from Jurveston.

She spent $8,406 in the post-primary period with her largest expenses being $2,079 to Giant Eagle for food and beverage expenses and $1,499 for TV ads.

She had $412 in her fund as of Sept. 2.

Santucci, who ran unopposed for the Republican nomination in this district, raised $49,265 between July 14 and Sept. 2 with his major contributors being Regina Mitchell of Warren at $13,704 and Eric J. Rebhan of Fort Lauderdale at $8,704. Both are executives with Warren Fabricating.

Santucci spent $9,564 in the post-primary period with $5,000 going toward radio commercials.

With carryovers from previous reporting periods, Santucci had $173,180 in his campaign fund as of Sept. 2.

65TH HOUSE DISTRICT: Incumbent state Rep. Mike Loychik, R-Bazetta, who got 71 percent of the vote in the Aug. 2 GOP primary for the 65th House District seat, raised $25,548 in the post-primary period with $5,000 contributions each from the campaigns of state Reps. Jeff LaRe of Violet Township and D.J. Swearingen of Huron.

The Ohio Republican Party also gave $33,582 in in-kind contributions for campaign mailers during that period.

Loychik spent $32,714 between July 14 and Sept. 2 with his largest expenses being $15,443 to H&F Strategies of Chagrin Falls for media ad purchases and $5,000 to rent the Eastwood Event Centre in Niles for an Aug. 22 fundraiser with Donald Trump Jr.

Loychik had $16,927 in his campaign account as of Sept. 2 because of money carried over from previous reporting periods.

Randy Law of Warren Township, who lost to Loychik in the Republican primary, received no contributions from donors. He gave his campaign $3,378 in the post-primary period for printing, postage and online ads.

Loychik is being challenged in the Nov. 8 election by Jennifer Donnelly of Cortland, who is running as an independent. She hasn’t reported raising any money for her campaign.

32ND SENATE DISTRICT: This seat isn’t up for election until 2024 so no reports had to be filed. The seat is held by state Sen. Sandra O’Brien, R-Lenox.

MAHONING COUNTY

Among the four candidates who ran in the 59th House’s Democratic primary, only two filed post-primary reports.

McNally, who captured 56 percent of the vote, raised $7,559 and spent $7,308 in the post-primary period.

Her largest contributors were Karla Jurvetson, a Los Altos, Calif., doctor and major Democratic donor, who gave $2,000; and the Matriots Political Action Committee of Columbus, which supports female candidates in Ohio, which gave $1,500.

Her largest expenses were $2,404 to City Printing of Youngstown for the printing and mailing of campaign literature and $2,400 to Event Management LLC of Youngstown for the same purpose.

She had $12,648 in her fund as of Sept. 2, which included money she carried over from previous reports.

McNally is facing Beight and Ungaro, who didn’t have to file a post-primary report as they are independents. Beight and Ungaro said they haven’t raised money for their campaigns as of yet.

Besides McNally, only John R. Dyce of Hanoverton, who finished third in the Democratic primary, filed a post-primary report. He reported $2,600 in contributions with $2,500 of it coming from the Ohio AFL-CIO Committee on Political Education. Dyce spent $2,737 with $1,500 of it for radio ads.

With a small carryover, Dyce had $299 in his campaign fund as of Sept. 2.

Ronald Shadd of Youngstown, who finished second in the race, failed to file a post-primary report.

Wayne Penny Jr. of Youngstown, who was last in the primary, reported he didn’t raise or spend money on his campaign.

58TH HOUSE DISTRICT: In Mahoning County’s other House race, the 58th District, incumbent state Rep. Al Cutrona, R-Canfield, reported raising no money from donors in the post-primary period.

Cutrona, whose campaign is flush with cash, reported having a $276,958 surplus on Sept. 2 after he spent $32,486 in the post-primary period. Of that amount, $25,000 went to the Fraternal Order of Police’s Canfield Lodge toward the purchase of a police dog and trainer costs.

Cutrona also loaned $60,000 to has campaign on July 20.

He has, by far, the most money in his fund than any other candidate running for the General Assembly in the Valley.

Both Cutrona and Canfield Councilman Bruce Neff, his Democratic challenger, ran unopposed in their party’s primary on Aug. 2.

Neff reported raising $3,125 in the post-primary period, with $1,000 coming from the AFL-CIO, and spending $472. He had $2,653 in his campaign account as of Sept. 2.

33RD SENATE DISTRICT: State Sen. Michael Rulli, R-Salem, who is seeking a second term in the 33rd Senate District, raised more money in the post-primary period than any other legislative candidate in the area.

Rulli, who was unopposed in the Aug. 2 primary, received $81,089 in contributions between July 14 and Sept. 2 with $34,204 coming from PACs.

Rulli spent $16,203 in the post-primary period with $11,606 going to H&F Strategies of Chagrin Falls for digital advertising, yard signs and consulting services.

With carryover money, Rulli had $151,507 in his fund as of Sept. 2.

Democrat Robert Hagan of Youngstown, a former state legislator challenging Rulli, raised $33,979 in the post-primary period including $16,400 from PACs.

Hagan, who also ran unopposed in the primary, spent $19,938 between July 14 and Sept. 2 with $10,000 going to Electrica USA of Washington, D.C., for advertising and $6,000 to R Strategy Group of East Cleveland for consulting fees.

Hagan had $84,318 in his fund, which includes money carried over from previous reporting periods.

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