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David Skolnick

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 ...

Examining key Valley races

Many of the races in the Mahoning Valley went under the radar this election because the presidency, as it does every four years, took center stage. But there are two races — one each in Mahoning and Trumbull counties — that I want to dive deeper here. The Trumbull County race had Commissioner Dan Polivka, who’s also the county Democratic Party chairman, lose to Republican Niki Frenchko. The Mahoning County race involved Probate Court Judge Robert N. Rusu Jr., an independent, narrowly defeating Republican David Lee Engler. In the Frenchko-Polivka race, there were a lot of ...

Valley GOP makes big strides

Most elected officials in Mahoning and Trumbull counties are Democrats, and that’s not likely to change for years. But advances Republicans have made here in just two elections are not only remarkable, but historic. Much credit goes to someone who hasn’t stepped foot in the Mahoning Valley in more than three years: Donald Trump. Until Trump came along, the two counties voted for the Democratic presidential candidate every four years since 1936, except for 1956 and 1972, the second terms of Republicans Dwight Eisenhower and Richard Nixon. The numbers were often huge with ...