Election preparation and interesting races

November 8, 2019

Because of deadlines, reporters write outlines of election stories before the results come in. That's what I did before Tuesday's election. Uncertain about what would happen in Youngstown's 7th Ward council seat, I wrote two scenarios for the city council article. I wrote that it was a Democrat sweep with the assumption that Councilwoman Basia Adamczak won in the 7th Ward and another with Donald P. Scott becoming the first independent council candidate to be elected in 24 years. Instead, there was a tie. A tie? A tie! When I received the results at the Mahoning County Board ...

Money plays major role in races

November 1, 2019

“Money is the mother’s milk of politics.” While Tuesday’s election is a relatively low-key one — particularly when you consider the presidential election is next year — the amount of money in some of the local elections in the Mahoning Valley is noteworthy. For one candidate, it’s absolutely staggering. Randy Law, who’s running as an independent candidate for Warren mayor, raised and spent no money, according to his pre-general election campaign finance reports. But America’s Tomorrow, a Marietta-based political action committee, gave Law’s campaign $117,963 ...

Valley hopefuls rev up for 2020

October 25, 2019

I’m not trying to look past this election, but with the 2020 primary moved to March 17 because of the presidential race, the filing deadline for next year is right around the corner. Dec. 18 is the deadline for those wanting to run in the primary. That gives Republicans and Democrats less than eight weeks to turn in nominating petitions. In both Mahoning and Trumbull counties, there are elections for two county commissioners, prosecutor, recorder, treasurer, coroner, engineer, sheriff in addition to judicial seats. In Mahoning, there are three common pleas seats as well as domestic ...

Ryan’s fundraising stunningly bad

October 18, 2019

Embarrassing low, poor and anemic are just a few words to describe U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan’s presidential campaign fundraising total for the third quarter. I thought it was going to be difficult for Ryan, D-Howland, to do worse than he did during the second quarter when he raised $889,398.86. It was the lowest amount among any of the 20 candidates who made the stage during the first two Democratic presidential debates in June and July. It was also less than two candidates who didn’t qualify for the debates. When his latest report was released Tuesday, the amount raised was stunningly ...

Election important, not exciting

October 11, 2019

There’s not a great sense of excitement about this general election. Odd-year elections are often that way. There’s no election for president, state officials, Congress, the state Legislature or even countywide seats. There’s not even a statewide issue on the ballot this year. And there’s little doubt that turnout is going to be very low — I mean ridiculously low. The directors of the boards of elections in Mahoning and Trumbull counties recently told me they expect about three out of every four registered voters to stay home. They likely were being optimistic with ...

Long-shot Ryan plays long game

October 4, 2019

U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan has a plan for his presidential bid, but does his long-shot campaign have momentum to last? As long as Ryan’s campaign stays lean and he doesn’t burn through his limited funds, he can remain in the race. But surviving is not an effective way to run for president of the United States. He desperately needs to grow his campaign, and so far, he hasn’t shown signs of that. He recently made a solid addition hiring Dennis Willard to handle communications. But that’s not a permanent hire, and Ryan’s communications department has changed hands numerous times in ...