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David Skolnick

Power of incumbency brings Joyce big bucks

Once in Congress, raising money becomes considerably easier. The longer you’re there, the more cash you collect — particularly from political action committees as they love winners and those who they view as allies or at least those who can help them. U.S. Rep. Dave Joyce, R-Bainbridge, is serving his seventh two-year term representing the 14th Congressional District, which has Trumbull as its second most-populous county behind Lake. Joyce’s campaign always has excelled at raising money. Serving on the House Appropriations Committee and as chairman of the Financial Services and ...

AG Yost won’t stand down in 2026 race for governor

In the 2026 Republican primary for Ohio governor, Attorney General Dave Yost finds himself facing an uphill climb against Vivek Ramaswamy, a wealthy biotech entrepreneur who’s never held elected office. As many Republicans, including in Ohio, have found out, it’s not what you know but who you know that leads to victory. In 2022, political newcomer J.D. Vance, a venture capitalist best known for writing his life’s story at the age of 31, emerged from a crowded Republican field to capture the party’s nomination for an open U.S. Senate seat. Donald Trump’s endorsement of ...

Kale-Pesta left her mark on local elections, politics

The impact Joyce Kale-Pesta had on Mahoning County elections and politics was remarkable and will remain with us long after her recent death. I was fortunate to know Kale-Pesta for the past 25 years, covering politics in the Mahoning Valley. Long before I came to this area, Kale-Pesta served as secretary for the Mahoning County Democratic Party, starting in 1978 under Don Hanni Jr., its longtime chairman. Kale-Pesta was hired in December 1988 as a clerk at the county board of elections. When I started covering politics in September 2000, I first met Kale-Pesta at the county’s ...

Enthusiasm bubbles over for Ramaswamy and Walz

The biggest takeaway from the Mahoning County Republican Party Lincoln Day dinner, headlined by Vivek Ramaswamy, and the town hall with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is that this area is not lacking in political enthusiasm. This is the case even though the presidential election was five months ...

O’Neill faces daunting challenge in 14th District Congress race

Democrat Bill O’Neill, a former Ohio Supreme Court justice, faces an uphill battle next year when he challenges U.S. Rep. Dave Joyce for the 14th Congressional District seat. O’Neill, a Chagrin Falls Democrat, is no stranger to voters — particularly in this congressional district — as he’s been on the ballot for various elected offices in 1992, 1996, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2018. Joyce, a Bainbridge Republican, has established himself as one of the most successful politicians in Northeast Ohio. After six four-year terms as Geauga County prosecutor, Joyce ran ...

Political comeback for Sherrod?

Throughout his political career, Democrat Sherrod Brown has talked about the “dignity of work.” So it came as little surprise that Brown recently announced the creation of the Dignity of Work Institute, which will focus on empowering and growing the middle class. But Brown also is a career politician who spent 48 of the previous 50 years in elected office. He wanted to spend at least six more years, but lost in November to Republican Bernie Moreno for the Senate seat Brown held for the previous 18 years. While Brown wanted to talk Monday to the media about his new institute, ...