Betras taking Mahoning County Democrats by storm

By David Skolnick (Contact)

By David Skolnick

David Betras is a fast talker, a real fast talker.

He can also be an entertaining talker, sprinkling in some colorful language and telling interesting stories.

He’s also got a lot of energy; sort of how a hyperactive person would act after drinking 15 energy drinks or Mountain Dews.

“I’m like a tornado,” Betras said.

He acknowledges that some people consider him “standoffish and arrogant.”

But the new Mahoning County Democratic chairman is also organized and passionate about injecting new life into a party that’s run on auto-pilot for the past few years.

Party precinct committee members selected Betras earlier this week as chairman.

Betras replaces county Treasurer Lisa Antonini, who was virtually invisible the past few years in politics. And the few times she was visible, it didn’t do anything to help the party.

Like the chairmen who proceeded her, Antonini lost interest in running the party long before her April 10 resignation.

Betras inherits a fractured party that needs an energy boost.

Betras is like a Red Bull in a China shop.

He’s getting off to a very quick start by reaching out to state Democratic leaders, establishing a more-inclusive county Democratic executive committee and creating a communications committee.

Betras will also focus on two key components needed for the local party to mean anything: raising money and endorsing candidates.

Antonini was able to get the party out of debt during her nearly seven years as chairwoman. She left the party with a surplus of about $20,000.

Betras needs to bring that to a much higher level.

As a political donor, Betras knows that money equals access and prestige.

His financial plan includes increasing the party’s base of contributors and asking for more money from those who already give. In this economic recession, that’s easier said than done.

The party’s failure to endorse candidates, except for two instances in 2006, over the past dozen years has made it almost irrelevant.

For example, Columbiana County’s Democratic Party is more influential on the state level than Mahoning County.

Why is it that Columbiana, which is smaller in population and has fewer Democratic county officeholders than Mahoning, is more influential?

Columbiana County endorses.

Betras intends to have Mahoning Democrats endorse a candidate for the 2010 U.S. Senate race in June.

The two leading Democratic candidates in that race are Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher and Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner.

Both candidates will campaign in Mahoning, one of the most Democratic counties in the state, leading up to the May 2010 primary.

If one of those candidates has the vocal support of an organized Mahoning County Democratic Party that endorsement could go a long way in helping capture this important county in the primary.

Needed prestige

It would also add needed prestige to an organization that has meant so little for far too long.

Betras also wants the county party to be a player in the 2010 statewide elections.

Mahoning Democrats turned out in a big way for most of the statewide candidates in the 2006 election.

Those numbers need to be exceeded in 2010.

Common enemy

Also, Betras won’t hesitate to unite a divided party by creating a common enemy.

Here’s an excerpt from the end of Betras’s nominating speech that is an example of what to expect.

“While bringing us together is my primary goal, I’ll devote considerable energy to battling those who seek to tear us apart or impede our progress, no matter who you are or who you are employed by.”

“So tonight I put the media on notice: if I am elected chair and you shade the truth, engage in unwarranted personal attacks against our officeholders, or seek to promote a culture of negativity, I will push back and push back hard.”

The creation of a common enemy has begun.