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The momentum swung back in favor of Democrats in the Mahoning Valley during this election, but the chairmen of both political parties in Trumbull and Mahoning counties say the area is still up for grabs.
In Trumbull County, victorious Amy Acton on the ballot for governor helped Democratic candidates for county commissioner and auditor.
Democrat Kirsten Rock beat Republican Michael Hovis by 2.06% for commissioner and Democrat Edward Stredney beat Republican Mike Loychik by 1.28% for auditor.
Democrats regained the two seats they lost in the 2022 election.
Trumbull Democratic Party Chairman Mark Alberini said: "I couldn't be happier. The races were really close. Having a candidate like Amy Acton at the top of the ticket was advantageous. She pulled a lot of votes down the whole slate card and everyone benefited. The voters sent a clear message that they want good public servants who put Trumbull County and Ohio first."
Alberini said Republican voters who stayed at home for this election weren't motivated by their candidates.
But, Alberini said, "Amy Acton motivated people and that made a huge difference. People are rejecting the self-serving politicians who don't make their lives better. That was clear with the results."
Trumbull Republican Chairman Denny Malloy said the local candidates worked hard, but "they were penalized by the top of the ticket, the economy and that more people hate (President) Donald Trump than like him. They were penalized for running as an R this year. Our locals lost by razor-thin margins. People voted a straight party line."
Malloy said: "We knew it wasn't going to be a good year, but it was worse than we thought."
Trump's ongoing war in Iran and the high cost of living "is partly to blame" for the losses in Trumbull County, Malloy said.
Malloy said Ramaswamy dragged down the rest of the Republican ticket.
Malloy said: "Vivek was blessed by Trump and the shine has worn off that penny. Vivek was anointed by the president and we never had the chance to pick the candidate. He didn't motivate anyone. Neither did Amy Acton, but that commercial upset a lot of Democrats to get out and vote and even some Republicans."
Malloy was referring to a controversial commercial Ramaswamy aired with Acton's estranged mother calling her daughter a liar. The mother hasn't seen Acton since she was 12 and that was at a court hearing for Acton's stepfather, who was accused of raping her as a child. Acton's mother and stepfather fled Ohio with the mother convicted of a number of crimes and the stepfather a fugitive until his death.
Malloy said national politics hurt Republicans in Trumbull County.
"They're tired of paying high utility bills and tired of data centers and Trump bullying people around and Vivek was his backed candidate," Malloy said. "A high-tech guy who made his money outside of Ohio and then came back to save us is not a good governor candidate."
Malloy said the governor's race would have had a different outcome had Lt. Gov. Jim Tressel, a former Ohio State University football coach and Youngstown State University president, run for the position.
MAHONING COUNTY
Mahoning County Democratic Party Chairman Chris Anderson said: "For two years, I've been screaming from the rooftops not to write off Mahoning County and on Tuesday, the entire state of Ohio saw why."
Tom McCabe, Mahoning County Republican Party chairman, said: "This is not a red county. I've been telling people that. We're a purple county. It swings back and forth and I think in 2028, we'll swing it back."
For the first time in 20 years, Democrats picked up statewide wins for governor, secretary of state and treasurer. John Kulewicz became the first Democrat elected attorney general since 2008, and Jennifer Brunner and Marilyn Zayas were elected to the Ohio Supreme Court, becoming the first Democrats to win seats on the high court since a law took effect with the 2022 election requiring Supreme Court justice candidates to run with party affiliation.
Also, Sherrod Brown won the U.S. Senate race, the first Democrat to capture such a seat since he was reelected in 2018 to a six-year term. Brown lost a 2024 reelection bid and came back to win a different seat Tuesday.
All of the Democratic candidates who won statewide elections had a majority of the vote in Mahoning County. All but one won in Trumbull. Kulewicz lost by 1.1% in Trumbull.
At the top of the Democratic ticket was Gov.-elect Amy Acton, who grew up in Youngstown and graduated in 1984 from Liberty High School.
Acton beat Republican Vivek Ramaswamy by 7.95% in Ohio's least competitive statewide race.
Acton beat him by 11.73% in Mahoning County and by 7.05% in Trumbull.
McCabe agreed that Trump's impact on the economy and the war in Iran, and Ramaswamy not being a strong candidate were problems Republicans couldn't overcome. McCabe said since the Civil War, nearly every midterm election the party that doesn't control the White House gains elected seats.
In 2018, during Trump's first presidency, Democrats picked up 41 House seats. In 2010, with Democrat Barack Obama as president, Republicans picked up 63 House seats. In 1994, with Democrat Bill Clinton as president, Republicans gained 54 House seats. In 1958, with Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower as president, Democrats gained 13 Senate seats.
In Tuesday's election, Democrats picked up at least 41 House seats and seven Senate seats and will regain control of both chambers.
McCabe said: "I didn't think this year we'd buck history nationwide or in Ohio. But it was pretty bad. We lost in states we shouldn't have lost. It's a tough environment in the midterm. It's not anything local Democrats did. They rode a wave and we tried to stem the wave."
McCabe said Trump ended up hurting the Republican ticket in this election.
"There was a miscalculation with Iran," McCabe said. "But we can't have them get nuclear weapons."
While Trump played a major role in turning Mahoning from a longtime reliable Democratic county to one in 2024 where most Republicans in contested races won, McCabe said, "Republicans stayed home for this election and some drifted to the Democrats."
As for Ramaswamy, McCabe said: "When you hear from the rank and file, there was some discontent. There wasn't much of a primary. We could have used a better ground game. Also the commercial backfired. It's all people talked about. It didn't cost him the election, but it backfired."
Anderson said: "It's not just Donald Trump who did this. It's an entire litany of broken promises the Republican Party made that they didn't keep. They said, 'Give us more power and we'll make your lives better,' and they did the opposite. It's also his enablers. If you were on the ballot in 2026 as a Republican and didn't say anything, you not only condoned the things he did, but you probably also believed them. There's a whole litany of Republicans in power in Mahoning County who made campaign promises they have failed to keep, and we're coming for them in 2028."
Mahoning has now become "the epitome of a bellwether county," Anderson said. "It used to be a bright blue county, but it's changed. The days of going for one party are over. You have to come here and fight for our votes by having people's best interests in mind."
Anderson said: "At the end of the day, people hate both parties on the national level. They don't buy what either party is selling at the national level. In 2024, they believed what the GOP said they would do and it did not happen. We'll now have two years to show Mahoning County residents and around the country that the trust they put in us in 2026 is legitimate. We have to deliver on property taxes, education, redistricting. We have to do the things we say we'll do or else we'll get our asses beat in 2028."