By DAVID SKOLNICK

Staff writer

YOUNGSTOWN — U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson, who represents a portion of the Mahoning Valley, raised $214,691.75 in campaign contributions in the past few weeks while his Republican primary opponent didn’t file a report.

Candidates who haven’t spent or raised at least $5,000 don’t have to file campaign finance reports with the Federal Elections Commission. That means the two incumbents have a huge financial lead over their challengers in not only the April 28 primary, but also the general election.

The recently filed reports take in less than half of the first quarter — the time between Feb. 27 and March 31 — because Ohio congressional candidates previously had to file pre-primary reports for the period between Jan. 1 and Feb. 26. That time was determined before the state postponed its primary election date from March 17 to April 28 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, only two of the seven Republican candidates running in the 13th Congressional District, which takes in most of Mahoning and Trumbull counties, filed what the FEC calls first-

quarter reports even though it’s the time between Feb. 27 and March 31.

The winner of the Republican primary will take on U.S. Rep Tim Ryan, D-Howland, who raised $137,117.02 between Feb. 27 and March 31. That’s considerably more than the two Republicans who filed — Christina M. Hagan of Marlboro Township and Louis G. Lyras of Campbell — raised during the same time.

13TH DISTRICT

Ryan continues a financial rebound, raising $137,117.02 between Feb. 27 and March 31. That came after he received $139,292.41 between Jan. 1 and Feb. 26.

Unopposed in the Democratic primary, Ryan raised $137,882.90 during the final three months of 2019 after collecting only $30,255.83 and $42,883.03 in the second and third quarters, respectively, of last year when he was focusing on his failed bid for the presidency.

For his re-election bid, Ryan has raised $573,575.38 and spent $546,038.21.

During the recent filing period, Ryan, a nine-term incumbent, raised $84,467.02 from individuals and $52,500 from political action committees.

Among those who gave him maximum individual contributions of $2,800 was Anthony M. Cafaro Sr. of Hubbard, the retired Cafaro Company CEO and president. Cafaro also gave $2,800 to Johnson.

Ryan received $5,000 PAC contributions from the Communications Workers of America, and the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers, both based in Washington, D.C.

Ryan spent $58,289.21 between Feb. 27 and March 31 with his largest expenses being $17,000 to Michael J. Morley of New York City, his former presidential campaign manager, for campaign consulting; $7,000 to Balodis Group LLC of Westlake for fundraising consulting and expenses; and $3,766.50 to Fraioli & Associates of Washington, D.C., for fundraising consulting and expenses.

His campaign continues to pay $778.35 per month to General Motors Financial Leasing for the lease of a car. His campaign also paid $3,088 to Cincinnati Insurance Co. for insurance on the leased car.

With money he carried over from previous fundraising efforts, Ryan had $215,961 in his campaign account March 31.

Of the seven Republicans seeking to challenge Ryan in the November general election, Hagan and Lyras were the only two to file first-quarter reports.

Hagan raised $23,445 and spent $50,652.15 between Feb. 27 and March 31. Her main expense of $45,557.42 went to Logan Circle Group of Huntington Station, N.Y., for direct mail, website services and yard signs.

Including money she carried over, Hagan had $52,928.61 in her campaign account as of March 31.

Lyras reported $13,968.25 in contributions with $12,000 of it being loans from the candidate between Feb. 27 and March 31.

Lyras has loaned $109,000 to his campaign since August 2019.

Lyras spent $43,400.41 during the reporting period with the largest expenses being $38,106.73 to City Printing of Youngstown for campaign mail and $2,142.85 to the WKBN-AM radio station.

Also, the Ohio Freedom Fund, an outside special interest group, reported spending $75,000 on media buys and productions to help Hagan and criticize Lyras.

The fund said it received the $75,000 from a group called Invest in Ohio, based in Washington, D.C., and paid it to Medium Buying LLC of Columbus. It isn’t clear if all of the money was already spent.

The five-county 13th District includes most of Mahoning and Trumbull.

6TH DISTRICT

Johnson raised $214,691.75 between Feb. 27 and March 31 with $176,400 from PACs, $5,304.44 transferred from his Johnson Leads Committee, $32,986.88 from individuals and 43 cents in “other receipts.”

He received $10,000 from Majority Committee of Bakersfield, Calif., House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s PAC.

Johnson, a five-term incumbent, also received $5,000 contributions from the American Cable Association of Pittsburgh; Political Education Patterns of Cleveland, NCTA – the Internet and Television Association of Washington, D.C.; CVS/Caremark Corp. Employees of Washington, D.C.; the Carpenters Legislative Improvement Committee of Washington, D.C.; and General Motors of Washington, D.C.

Johnson spent $41,465.92 during the reporting period with his biggest expenses being $14,029.41 to 814 Consulting of Alexandria, Va., for fundraising consulting, and $10,500 to Communications Counsel of Columbus for media consulting.

In his re-election bid, overall he’s raised $1,219,435.11 and spent $1,192,495.49.

With money Johnson carried over, he had $972,570.94 in his account as of March 31.

Kenneth Morgan of Chesapeake, his Republican challenger, didn’t file a campaign report.

Also, Shawna Roberts of Belmont, who is running for the seat as a Democrat, didn’t file a report. She lost to Johnson in the 2018 election.

The 18-county district includes all of Columbiana County and southern Mahoning County.

dskolnick@tribtoday.com

Incumbents trounce foes in fundraising