YOUNGSTOWN — Poland Township Trustee Eric Ungaro said he will file his nominating petitions next Monday to run as an independent candidate in the new 59th Ohio House District race while Anthony Protopapa, a former Struthers council president, and Greg Beight of New Springfield are considering similar bids.

In order to qualify for this seat for the Nov. 8 general election as an independent, a candidate must turn in nominating petitions by Aug. 1 with at least 454 valid signatures and not be affiliated with a political party such as voting in the most recent primary as a Republican or Democrat or serving as a central committee member of either party.

Ungaro said he’s collected about 600 signatures and wants to get about 50 to 100 more before submitting his petitions next week.

Ungaro, a longtime Democrat who didn’t vote in the May 3 primary, was first elected as a Poland Township trustee in 2011. His father, Patrick, is a former mayor of Youngstown, where Eric grew up.

“The issue is who is going to best represent the district,” he said. “You need to have a relationship with people in the urban and rural parts of the district.”

Ungaro ran in 2018 in the current 59th District, losing to Republican Don Manning by 375 votes — 0.7 of a percent.

Protopapa is a former Democrat who spent four years as the 1st Ward councilman in Struthers followed by six years as council president, losing the 2009 primary. He currently lives in Poland Township and works as a New Middletown police officer.

Protopapa last voted Democratic in 2018 and while he’s an independent he said he now leans Republican.

Beight, owner of Masternick-Courtney, a Girard-based vending company, voted in the May 3 Republican primary. That could put his eligibility as an independent in jeopardy though that is up to the Mahoning County Board of Elections to decide.

“I’m leaning towards running, but there are rules in place,” he said. Eligibility is “something I’m trying to find out more about at this point. Is the 2022 primary May 3 or Aug. 2? I don’t know the answer. This year is so screwed up. Historically, I’ve switched back and forth between parties multiple times. Since I was 18, I’ve probably voted more Democratic.”

The primary for state legislative seats was supposed to be May 3, but was delayed until Aug. 2. That happened after the Ohio Supreme Court rejected maps from the Ohio Redistricting Commission five times because they were unconstitutional as they unfairly favored Republicans.

When the commission approved a second set of maps, Poland was in a Republican House district. The commission then moved Poland into a district that favors Democrats by about 3 percent and also includes Youngstown.

Even though the state court threw out the maps five times, a federal panel agreed in May to permit the use of the fifth set of maps — which has the exact boundaries as the third set — for this election only.

The four Democratic candidates running in the Aug. 2 primary for the seat are: Youngstown 5th Ward Councilwoman Lauren McNally, former Youngstown school board member Ronald Shadd, Wayne Penny Jr. of Youngstown and John Dyce of Hanoverton, who’s unsuccessfully run for state House seats in Columbiana County in 2016 and 2018. Hanoverton was added to the 59th District during the third drawing of state House districts.

No Republicans filed for the seat by the Feb. 2 deadline as it was considered a safe Democratic district at that time. Jeffrey Green of Austintown later filed as a write-in candidate, but his hometown was then moved out of that district and into the 58th by the commission. With state Rep. Al Cutrona, R-Canfield, in the 58th District and already on the ballot, Green withdrew as a write-in.

The new 59th District includes Youngstown, Beloit, Coitsville, Ellsworth, Poland, Sebring, New Middletown, North Lima, Smith, Washingtonville, Goshen, Green, Beaver and Springfield along with four townships in northwest Columbiana County.

State legislative district boundaries are changing with this election as required when a decennial census is done by the federal government.

The current 59th, which is changing, includes Beaver, Beloit, Berlin, Boardman, Canfield, Craig Beach, Ellsworth, Goshen, Green, Jackson, Milton, New Middletown, Poland, Sebring, Smith and Springfield and a small portion of Austintown.