Previewing ’22 legislative races

August 13, 2021

Preparing for next year’s election, some state legislators in the Mahoning Valley have a decent amount of cash in their campaign funds. One of those in a comfortable financial position is state Rep. Michael J. O’Brien, D-Warren, who had $59,547.61 in his campaign fund as of June 30. But O’Brien cannot run for re-election next year because of the state term limits law. He said he’ll have a decision soon on seeking another elected office. Signs point to him running next year for Trumbull County commissioner — a job he held years ago — and challenging Frank Fuda, the ...

The redistricting race is on

August 6, 2021

The Ohio Redistricting Commission, which will redraw the 99 Ohio House and 33 state Senate districts, will meet today for the first time. The commission also gets a crack at redrawing the congressional districts if the state Legislature is unable to come up with a map that satisfies enough Democrats. There’s no doubt that whatever state legislative and congressional maps are drawn will be better than what Ohio has right now thanks to voter-approved charter amendments that make the process more fair. But more fair doesn’t mean completely fair or that new maps will satisfy ...

Ryan gets an impressive haul

July 30, 2021

The second-quarter financial reports for the candidates in next year’s U.S. Senate election in Ohio provide an interesting early snapshot. First, U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, the lone Democrat seeking the office and the presumptive nominee, showed he can more than hold his own with Republicans in raising money. Ryan’s ability to raise money for federal campaigns — he’s serving his 10th two-year term in the House and had a short-lived, highly unsuccessful presidential bid two years ago — has dogged him. But Ryan, D-Howland, had a strong first quarter in which he raised $1,216,187.04. ...

DeWine veto sparks Zoldan’s anger

July 16, 2021

To Bruce Zoldan, it was like being slapped in the face and then getting punched in the gut. Just about a mile from one of his largest Phantom Fireworks stores, Gov. Mike DeWine, with prompting from me, explained why he had vetoed a bill that overwhelmingly passed in the state Legislature legalizing consumer-grade fireworks. DeWine was in our area last Friday. He first was in North Lima to sign a bill naming a bridge for former state Rep. Don Manning, who died in March 2020, and then headed to Cortland for a fundraiser for his re-election campaign next year. The Ohio Department of ...

Bad vibe from ‘secret’ meeting

July 9, 2021

A big deal was made during a June 8 news conference about a June 30 regional summit to discuss the best ways to spend the incredibly large amount of money the area is getting from the federal American Rescue Plan Act, or ARP. It turned out the meeting was closed to everyone but invited guests, which included big-wigs from business and charitable foundations. Why bother having a news conference to tout a private meeting? If you’re going to hold a closed-door meeting, it’s ridiculous to announce it. There is nothing illegal or improper about the meeting as long as a majority of ...

Politicians converge on Valley

July 2, 2021

One sure sign that the COVID-19 pandemic is practically behind us is the return of statewide politicians to the Mahoning Valley. Except for political fundraisers, the only statewide elected official to have news conferences in the area for about a year was Gov. Mike DeWine, and the topic of conversation was the pandemic. Life in the political world went in a different way. We had a presidential election during it, using Zoom meetings and conference calls to keep abreast of what was happening. But there’s something refreshing about seeing someone face to face and having a ...