Fifteen candidates — including a former state senator, the former officeholder’s brother, a Poland village councilman and several business executives — submitted resumes and letters of interest seeking to succeed Don Manning as the Ohio House 59th District representative.

The candidates will be interviewed Monday and Tuesday by a six-member screening committee of Ohio House Republicans. The candidates had until Friday to apply for the seat left vacant by Manning’s March 20 death.

The committee will select about five finalists with the full House Republican Caucus choosing Manning’s replacement. That person would fill the remainder of Manning’s term, which ends Dec. 31.

The Mahoning County Republican Party’s Central Committee would select a candidate to replace Manning on the November general election ballot.

Thomas McCabe, party chairman, said a local Republican committee will talk with the House Caucus before a final decision is made and that the county and state House Republicans would be in agreement on the candidate selected.

Regarding those who applied, McCabe said, “There’s a lot of solid candidates on the list and the local party will be happy with whoever Columbus comes back with. It’s good to see quality candidates step up.”

The person chosen would face Democrat Chris Stanley of Canfield, a Youngstown city school teacher and author, during the November election.

Those who applied for the appointment are:

Mark Nemenz of North Lima, president and chief operating officer for Family Behavioral Resources, a behavioral health care facility based in Hermitage, Pa.’;

Patrick Manning of Boardman, Don’s younger brother and a field supervisor with Servpro, a fire and water cleanup and restoration company;

Perry Alexandrides Jr. of Poland, a regional liaison for the Ohio auditor’s office. He was previously an Ohio secretary of state office’s regional liaison and an Ohio Republican Party’s regional director;

Sam Moffie of Poland, a village councilman, a substitute teacher in the Youngstown school district and an author, who was a former businessman. He’s lost previous elections for county commissioner and Boardman trustee;

Steve Kristan of Canfield, a retired AT&T executive who is a candidate in November for a county commissioner seat;

Tracie Balentine of Boardman, a consultant for Balentine Consulting & Training who unsuccessfully ran last year for Boardman trustee;

Alessandro Cutrona of Canfield, an attorney at an Independence law firm and chief operating officer for Northeastern Ohio Infectious Disease Association, a Youngstown infectious disease medical practice;

Christine Oliver of Canfield, owner and manager of Island Tropics Tanning Salon and an insurance agent. She served two years as a Canfield city councilwoman before losing re-election last year and unsuccessfully ran in 2016 for county treasurer;

Holly A. Deibel of North Lima, who, with her husband, own Boardman Steel, a structural steel company. She was president of the Mahoning Valley Republican Women’s Club and has long been involved in county Republican politics;

Jason Wilson of Poland, a former state senator as a Democrat. He changed his party affiliation in the most recent primary to Republican. He was director of the Governor’s Office of Appalachia, appointed by Republican Gov. John Kasich in 2011 and served until January 2019. He is also owner and general partner of Wilson Funeral Homes and Furniture in Bridgeport, Belmont County;

Jim Murphy of Boardman, who ran against Manning in 2016 for the Republican nomination for the seat, losing by 4.32 percent. Manning lost that general election to Democrat John Boccieri with Murphy serving as his campaign manager. Murphy spent seven years in the Army and is currently a correctional officer with the Federal Bureau of Prisons;

Jon P. Arnold of Canfield, CEO of the J. Arnold Wealth Management Co., an investment management firm;

Joseph P. Alessi of North Lima, a retired Army lieutenant colonel and currently a senior Army instructor at Youngstown’s East High School’s Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps and a part-time faculty member at Youngstown State University;

Kirk Susany of Canfield, who operates Susany Development, a real estate company, and Susany Builders Inc., a construction business. He lost a state House race in 2008;

Linda Mikula of Austintown, assistant to the executive director of the Mahoning County Bar Association and a former office manager for Stadium Volkswagen.

The 59th District includes all of Beaver, Beloit, Berlin, Boardman, Canfield, Craig Beach, Ellsworth, Goshen, Green, Jackson, Milton, New Middletown, Poland, Sebring, Smith, Springfield and Washingtonville, along with a small section of Austintown.

dskolnick@tribtoday.com