The race to become the Republican nominee for Trumbull County auditor features the incumbent, Matha Yoder; former two-term state representative Mike Loychik of Bazetta and Bazetta Fiscal Officer Stacy A. Marling.

Edward Stredney, an at-Large councilman in Niles, is running unopposed to be the Democratic nominee for the auditor’s seat.

“When I was campaigning for the Niles at-Large seat, people would tell me they were upset with what was happening in county government,” Stredney said.

The councilman won his at-large seat in November. He previously served as a Niles 3rd Ward councilman for 10 years.

After talking to Democratic party leaders about his recent experiences on the campaign trail, Stredney decided to run for the county seat.

He has a degree in accounting from Youngstown State University and works as a project manager across the East Coast for various water projects.

“I understand how government financing works,” Stredney said.

He expressed concerns about rising property values and taxes.

“Property values have increased dramatically over the last several years,” Stredney said. “Taxes are being raised. They went up dramatically in Trumbull County and across the state.”

If elected, Stredney pledges to make the auditor’s office boring again.

“It should not be in the press because the auditor is having fights with other elected officials,” he said.

Starling, a Republican, has 20 years experience in the Mahoning County auditor’s office, where she has been chief deputy for the past 10 years.

“I’ve learned a lot about running an auditor’s office,” Starling said. “I think there are more efficient ways of doing business in (Trumbull’s) auditor office. Some of the staff need training to understand the processing.”

She describes having watched contention between the auditor and other elected officials.

“There needs to be more collaboration,” she said.

As Bazetta’s fiscal officer, Starling joined her trustees in fighting Yoder to recover approximately $80,000 in township funds that were lost through an electronic scam that ran through the county auditor’s office.

Starling has an accounting degree from YSU.

Loychik says he sees the auditor’s office as the guardian of accuracy, fairness and transparency in the county’s finances, especially addressing property taxes.

The former state representative says he is running to address the hike in property taxes because of what he described as inflated property values. He believes the current office operates with an extreme lack of discipline, ineptness and an attitude of not listening to taxpayers.

“What has not happened is any attempt to address the property taxes that are driving folks out of their home,” Loychick said. “I am running to fix every single one of these problems.”

“My service as a state representative prepared me very well for the role of Trumbull County auditor, ” he continued. “I worked directly on state budgets and sponsored tax policy to lower property taxes.”

Loychik is an Air Force veteran and has earned an MBA. He has owned and operated two businesses.

“I will have a real open-door policy for anyone wanting to discuss anything related to the auditor’s office,” he said.

Having worked as the county’s auditor for three years, Yoder notes that as a member of the County Auditors Association of Ohio, she has advocated for property tax relief at the state level.

“My office investigated an error made under the previous auditor that returned $2 million to taxpayers,” she said.

Her office sent out $2 million in tax refunds to area farmers who overpaid property taxes because of an error in how their Current Agricultural Use Values were calculated from 2020 through 2022.

CAUV is a state program that values commercial farmland at its use rather than at market values.

In addition, Yoder states that her information technology team was responsible for preventing a large loss of data by its prompt action when a third party vendor was compromised.

“Since taking office, I have cut my office staff by 9%,” she said. “My office has been a contributor to the county’s general fund — subsidizing other county offices by almost $600,000 in the last three years.”

The auditor’s office has worked to save Trumbull more than $76,000 by utilizing the state treasurer’s OMPA program for the county’s borrowing.

“For the first time in 25 years, our Weight and Measures department inspected every gas pump and every scale in the county in one year, rather than two years,” Yoder said.

Addressing the issue of the $80,000 that went missing from Bazetta’s tax account, Yoder said there was fault made by both sides, which was never acknowledged by township officials.

The auditor’s office was required by the court to repay the funds.

“While I disagree with the final resolution, it is resolved,” Yoder said.

COMMISSIONER’S RACE

The two Republican candidates seeking the party’s nomination for commissioner are Michael Hovis and incumbent Commissioner Denny Malloy.

Hovis, chairman of the Bazetta township trustees over the last five years, said he was asked about running against Malloy when he ran three years ago, but decided to give him a chance.

Since that time, Hovis suggests there have been too many things that have not been accomplished, including finding new homes for the Trumbull County Dog Pound and Trumbull 911, replacing the steps of Trumbull’s Law Library and the deterioration of the steps at the county’s administration building.

“There was no planning,” he said. “They had $38 million in American Rescue Plan money. The commissioners should have leveraged it to gain more state money. The commissioners should have used a higher percentage to complete infrastructure projects that would have improved residents’ quality of life.”

Hovis described township trustees using their portion of the ARP funds in this manner.

“The county ran last year with an operating budget deficit,” he said. “Commissioners had to subsidize the county’s budget by that much. It was a lack of planning.”

Hovis, an independent businessman, is the owner of Hovis Construction.

“I’ve operated businesses since I was 20 years old,” Hovis said.

He worked as a police officer for 26 years. He joined the military when he turned 18.

Malloy, who is in the third year of a four-year term, said he is seeking reelection because there is more work to be done.

“The first two to three years were very difficult with all of the instances we had and I feel the commissioners were on the defensive all of the time protecting employees, policies and the integrity of the county,” he said. “Now we have a new board. We’re moving forward making a lot of positive efforts.”

He said the county is in a period of economic growth.

“I think shaking up the consistency of this board would be bad timing right now,” he said. “There’s no need for change. I do not want the county to go backwards.”

Malloy said some candidates are motivated by their own personal interests.

“If there was someone better for the job, I would step aside,” Malloy said. “But I have not seen anyone.”

Attorney Kristen F. Rock is running unopposed for the Democratic nomination for commissioner during the May 5 primary.

She previously ran for the 32nd District seat in the 2016 primary election. She ran against then Rep. Sean O’Brien.

At the time, Rock noted that she formerly worked as an attorney in Pennsylvania. She also formerly worked at the Ohio Department of Development’s International Trade Division in Columbus.

JUDGE RACES

The Republican race for the general division of the court of common pleas will have incumbent Cynthia Wescott Rice facing off with Devon Stanley and Maryellen Ditchey.

Rice was elected to be a Trumbull County Common Pleas Court Judge in November 2022, but took office earlier than expected to finish the remainder of former Judge Peter Kontos’s term.

She was elected to the 11th District Court of Appeals in November 2002. She also served as a visiting judge on the Ohio Supreme Court.

Stanley is a Liberty trustee and a deputy chief of the Trumbull County Clerk of Courts office.

He was arrested at a Girard-Niles high school football game Oct. 24 at Bo Rein Stadium in Niles. He is alleged to have repeatedly punched a woman, breaking her nose and ribs.

He was reelected to a four-year term as a township trustee in 2023.

He worked as a private attorney and as the Girard Municipal Court prosecutor.

Ditchey is a magistrate in Trumbull County Common Pleas court. She has worked as a defense attorney.

The Republican Party’s probate judge race will have Thomas A Campbell and Shelly Pratt competing for the seat.

Campbell has served as judge of the Trumbull County Central District Court since his appointment by former Gov. George Voinovich on Jan. 5, 1995. He currently serves as the Presiding and Administrative Judge of the combined Trumbull County Courts, including both the Eastern and Central Districts.

He received his juris doctorate from the University of Akron School of Law in 1989.

Prior to assuming the judgeship of the Central District Court in 1995, Campbell served as judge of the Trumbull County Eastern Court in Brookfield, and had earlier served as councilman and then mayor of Orangeville.

Pratt has served as a magistrate for Judge Sarah Kavoor since January of 2025, where she has had the opportunity to preside over civil matters and serve on the Drug Court.

Pratt began practicing law in 1998. She worked for Northeast Ohio Legal Services, transitioning into the Ohio Public Defender’s office for five years.

Working in the Ashtabula prosecutor’s office, Pratt handled appeals before the 11th District Court of Appeals and the Ohio Supreme Court.