Breaking News

David Skolnick

Election losers should move on

Losing is hard — and for some in politics, accepting defeat is impossible. Outgoing President Donald Trump, and many of his supporters, refuse to accept the fact that he lost to Democrat Joe Biden. Trump continues to tweet falsehoods (to be polite) to outright lies (to be accurate) about the election such as this Tuesday in all capital letters: “THE DEMOCRATS DUMPED HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF BALLOTS IN THE SWING STATES LATE IN THE EVENING. IT WAS A RIGGED ELECTION!!” A day later he claimed there was “massive voter fraud,” and “this was the most corrupt election in the ...

Ohio Dems seek new leader

The person who takes over as chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party has a monumental task. Despite claims from some, Ohio is solid purple in many ways. Going back to 1990, Democrats have won statewide executive branch offices in only 2006 and Republicans have a stranglehold on the state Legislature, even picking up seats in the recent election. David Pepper has been Democratic chairman since January 2015, taking over after the 2014 statewide election — an utter disaster for the party. He’s leaving Jan. 1. Pepper was able to eliminate the party’s debt and field a strong slate ...

Big spending brought success

With U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan in the political fight of his life, he was able to do something he’s struggled to do his entire time in Congress: Raise a respectable amount of money when it was desperately needed. Ryan, D-Howland, received a remarkable $584,186 between Oct. 1 and Nov. 3 in a race he won by 7.55 percent against Republican Christina Hagan of Marlboro Township for the 13th Congressional District seat. Other members of Congress raised even more money, but it’s been Ryan’s Achilles’ heel his entire political career, which started two decades ago. It’s stunning to see ...

During this past election in Ohio, a record number of votes were cast early largely because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The final percentage for this election was 58.6. In typical years, early voting makes up a much smaller percentage of total ballots cast. For example, in 2016, it was 33.5 percent. The numbers were a little lower this year in Mahoning and Trumbull counties than the state. Of the 119,968 votes in Mahoning County, about 57 percent did so early. In Trumbull, 101,813 people voted with about 53 percent casting them early. Turnout statewide was also very high with 74 ...

Election shows room for upgrades

Secretary of State Frank LaRose should be complimented for a smooth presidential election in Ohio during very difficult conditions because of the COVID-19 pandemic. But there’s always room for improvement that will hopefully occur. LaRose is unlikely to get support from fellow Republicans in the state Legislature for needed changes and will probably have to take some of the steps on his own. Despite unsubstantiated claims from Donald Trump, his legal team of rejects from the Island of Misfit Toys and a number of the outgoing president’s supporters about the legitimacy of voting in ...

Redistricting will hurt Ryan

U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan couldn’t have been more clear. After years of talk of him running for statewide office, Ryan, D-Howland, said he’s very happy staying in the U.S. House. But that’s as long as his congressional district lines don’t change too drastically making the seat more competitive with Republicans. When I asked about a statewide race in 2022, Ryan said: “I don’t have any interest in that. No, uh-uh, no interest. My preference is to get a good district and keep doing what we’re doing. I don’t want to run for a different office.” But it might not work out ...