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David Skolnick

Money flows easier to incumbents

In political elections, money is the main reason for the success of candidates. The more you get, the better your chances for winning — and if you’re an incumbent with a big financial lead over your opponent, you’ve got a better than 98% chance of getting reelected. Political action committees, the driving force that funds congressional campaigns, are much more likely to give money to incumbents. In the two congressional races on the Nov. 5 ballot in the Mahoning Valley, there is evidence. Based on what we’ve seen so far, the incumbents — Republican Dave Joyce in the ...

What Vance brings to GOP ticket

Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, didn’t select Ohio’s Sen. J.D. Vance as his vice presidential running mate for his political experience. Vance’s fewer than 19 months in elected office probably works to his advantage. Prior to Trump winning the presidency in 2016, he had never held public office. Trump has successfully convinced many that elected officials — particularly those who serve in Congress or presidential administrations — are part of the “D.C. swamp” that has hurt the country. Vance wasn’t selected so Trump could win Ohio, once a swing ...

A no-win situation for Democrats

The 14th Congressional District is relatively competitive on paper, but that’s not the reality. The district favors Republicans by about 9.7% based on statewide partisan voting results during the past decade. Before redistricting in 2022, the district favored Republicans by 9.4% for the previous decade. Yet, the closest a Democrat ever got to a Republican was in 2018 when Betsy Rader lost to U.S. Rep. Dave Joyce, R-Bainbridge, by 10.4%. Joyce’s other victories were lopsided. Joyce won by 23.4% in 2022, 20.2% in 2020, 25.2% in 2016, 30.3% in 2014 and 15.3% in 2012, his first ...

Valley Republicans move up

Republican Bill Johnson’s Jan. 21 resignation from the U.S. House put in motion a series of moves during the past few weeks that led to the election of his replacement and the appointment of two others to state legislative positions. Also, those two Republican appointees won’t have to ...

Mahoning, Trumbull counties shortchanged in funding bill

When you see the dollar amount, $31 million coming to Mahoning and Trumbull counties from the state’s One-Time Strategic Community Investment Fund and the capital budget seems like a lot of money. But based on population, the counties come up short in terms of the money they will receive from the two pots of money that were combined into one bill and approved Wednesday. The capital budget, approved every two years by the General Assembly, provides funding to public universities, state parks, the school facilities commission, public works projects, jail and prisons, the Ohio ...

Tiff mars Cutrona appointment

Overcoming an internal Republican political dispute that included significant pressure placed on those casting the deciding votes, Al Cutrona emerged as the successor to Michael Rulli in the Ohio Senate. It was a quick but not easy process that led to Cutrona, a Republican state representative from Canfield, getting the appointment to represent the 33rd Ohio Senate District on June 13 by a 4-2 vote among the Republican Party chairs and secretaries in the district. Cutrona got votes from those in Mahoning and Carroll counties while state Rep. Monica Robb Blasdel, R-Columbiana, got the ...