YOUNGSTOWN — The money left in the campaign fund of Don Manning, a state representative who died March 20, was turned over to the Ohio House Republican Campaign Committee.

Meanwhile, Chris Stanley, the Democrat seeking to take the seat, received a $13,000 donation from the head of a company that developed two natural gas-fired power plants in Lordstown.

Manning, R-New Middletown, had raised $59,829.53 for his re-election campaign to the Ohio House 59th District seat before his death.

On April 27, his campaign fund was terminated, with $56,361.37 going to the Republican caucus and $1,000 to Second Harvest Food Bank. Jennifer Best CPA LLC of Dublin received $750 on April 9 and the rest — $1,718.16 — was spent before his March 20 death.

Al Cutrona, R-Canfield, who was selected May 28 by the Republican caucus to be Manning’s successor, didn’t file a post-primary report nor was he required to.

The post-primary filing period was between Feb. 27 and May 29. It was extended by seven weeks because the primary was moved from March 17 to April 28 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a May 5 letter to the caucus, Cutrona said if he got the appointment, he would “immediately deposit $50,000 into my campaign account in efforts to secure this seat in November.”

Stanley, of Canfield, raised $17,984.97 during the post-primary period. Of that amount, $13,000 came from Bill Siderewicz of Manchester, Mass., on Feb. 29.

Siderewicz’s Clean Energy Future LLC, developed two natural gas-fired power plants in Lordstown.

The company was in the process of building a third billion-dollar plant when a bill supported by Manning that led to a $1 billion financial rescue package for the state’s two ailing nuclear power plants was signed into law July 23, 2019. Siderewicz had called the bill “political tampering with Ohio’s free electricity generation market,” and his company canceled plans for a third plant.

Stanley spent $10,870.78 in the post-primary period, with $9,076.47 going to R Strategy Group LLC of Cleveland as a consulting retainer.

With money he carried over from earlier this year, Stanley had $8,574.68 in his campaign fund as of May 29.

In the other Mahoning County legislative race, for the House’s 58th District, incumbent Michele Lepore-Hagan, D-Youngstown, raised $3,220 — with $3,000 coming from political action committees — and spent $1,734.78 during the post-primary time.

With money she carried over from previous campaigns, Lepore-Hagan, who is seeking her fourth two-year term, had $21,665.52 in her fund as of May 29.

David T. Simon of Youngstown, her Republican opponent whom she beat in the 2018 election, raised $100 and spent $236.93 in the post-primary period. With money he had from earlier this year, Simon reported a $113.07 surplus in his fund as of May 29.

TRUMBULL COUNTY

State Sen. Sean J. O’Brien, D-Bazetta, has, by far, the most money of any state legislator from the Valley on this year’s ballot.

O’Brien is seeking his second four-year term in the Ohio Senate’s 32nd District. He ran unopposed in the April 28 election.

O’Brien raised $9,850 — with all but $250 coming from political action committees — during the post-primary election period and spent $16,531.37. His biggest expense was $10,334.45 for advertising paid to BaughmanMerrill of San Francisco.

With money he carried over, O’Brien had $188,232.79 in his campaign fund as of May 29.

That’s about 100 times the amount of money in the account of his Republican challenger, Sandra O’Brien of Lenox Township.

She easily defeated Kenneth J. Polke of Ashtabula in the April 28 Republican primary.

O’Brien received $1,748.53 and spent $852.78 during the post-primary period. With money she previously raised, she had $1,960.37 in her fund as of May 29.

Polke reported raising and spending no money on his campaign.

In the Democrat primary for the Ohio House 63rd District seat, incumbent Gil Blair, D-Weathersfield, who won with 64.1 percent of the vote, virtually depleted his campaign fund in that effort.

Blair received $2,900 — with $2,500 coming from the Ohio Credit Union Legislative Action Committee of Columbus — and spent $9,237.83 during the post-primary time.

He spent $3,058.26 with City Printing of Youngstown and $1,441 both for “postage for campaign literature” as well as $1,505 to the Trumbull County Democratic Party, which endorsed him, for advertising.

Blair had $7,225.56 in his account before the start of the period and ended with $987.87.

Blair beat Niles Councilman-at-Large Barry Profato, who raised no money, and Werner Lange of Newton Falls, who showed a $279.40 deficit as of May 29.

Blair will face Mike Loychik, a Cortland Republican, in the general election.

Loychik, who ran unopposed in the GOP primary, reported raising $2,520 in the post-primary period and spending $417.24. With money he raised earlier this year, Loychik had $2,417.80 in his campaign account as of May 29 — more than twice what Blair had.

In the House’s 64th District, incumbent state Rep. Michael J. O’Brien, D-Warren, raised $3,300, all from PACs, during the post-primary time and spent $1,520.

With money he carried over, O’Brien had $54,143.30 in his campaign fund as of May 29.

He has a significant financial advantage over challenger Martha Yoder, a West Farmington Republican who lost to O’Brien in the 2016 and 2018 general elections.

Yoder raised $220 in the post-primary period and spent $6.40. With carryover, she had $2,069.23 as of May 29.