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David Skolnick

Candidates line up for state races in 2026

The Republican candidates for next year’s statewide races are starting to come into focus. U.S. Sen. Jon Husted, the former lieutenant governor appointed to Congress’ upper chamber by Gov. Mike DeWine, will seek election to the seat next year. Husted will have to run again in 2028 for a full six-year term should he win in 2026. Husted likely won’t get a serious challenge in next year’s Republican primary. Husted had planned to run for governor in 2026. He wasn’t scaring off any opponents and at least three viable Republicans plan to run for governor. Attorney General ...

Husted’s ‘improbable’ post

Hardly anyone, including Jon Husted, pictured him as a U.S. senator. But the Republican, who has eyed the Ohio governor’s seat for many years, just couldn’t pass up the opportunity. Husted, lieutenant governor for the past six years, gave the vice-presidential nominating speech for J.D. Vance on July 17 at the Republican National Convention. When he got the appointment last week from Gov. Mike DeWine to succeed Vance in the Senate, Husted harkened back to that day at the RNC and said someone asked him at the time about filling that potential vacancy. “That seems so ...

Mapmaking for legislative districts in Ohio returns

Republicans on the Ohio Redistricting Commission drew a congressional map four years ago that they anticipated would give their political party a 12-3 advantage in the U.S. House over Democrats. Instead, two toss-up districts – one with Akron as its largest city and another with Toledo – ...

Can Ohio Dems compete in ’26?

In the past two election cycles, Ohioans backed Republicans for the U.S. Senate who had never before run for office. In 2022, voters chose Republican J.D. Vance, best known at the time for writing the best-selling “Hillbilly Elegy” book, over Democrat Tim Ryan, a 20-year congressman. Two ...

SKOLNICK ON POLITICS: Rough political road ahead for Sherrod Brown

For the first time in 32 years, Democrat Sherrod Brown no longer holds public office. If you go back 50 years, Brown was an elected official for 48 of them, starting as a state representative, first elected in 1974, and after eight years, he spent another eight as Ohio’s secretary of ...

Ohio Republicans lavishly take care of their own

While it was a near certainty that the four incumbent Republican state legislators who represent the Mahoning Valley were going to win their elections last month, the state political party and GOP fundraising groups in the General Assembly left nothing to chance. Flush with money, the groups provided six-figure dollar amounts in in-kind contributions in just the three weeks before the Nov. 5 election to the legislators to ensure their victories. Those incumbents are state Sens. Al Cutrona, R-Canfield, and Sandra O’Brien, R-Lenox, and state Reps. Tex Fischer, R-Boardman, and Nick ...