With the Aug. 2 primary for state legislative candidates fast approaching, state Rep. Mike Loychik raised and spent more money than Randy Law, his Republican challenger, while Youngstown City Councilwoman Lauren McNally has a financial advantage in the 59th House District’s Democratic primary.

Also, in the 64th House District’s Democratic primary, Vincent Peterson II of Howland raised and spent more money than Bria Bennett of Warren though Republican Nick Santucci of Howland, who is running unopposed, had more money than either of them in his fund as of July 13.

With the legislative primary moved to Aug. 2 from May 3 because of unconstitutional maps, candidates for those seats didn’t have to file campaign finance reports on the regular schedule for those seeking state offices. The reports recently filed by legislative candidates are for the pre-primary period, which is Jan. 1 to July 13.

MAHONING COUNTY

Among the four candidates running in the 59th House’s Democratic primary, McNally has the financial lead.

Between Jan. 1 and July 13, she received $26,790 in contributions and spent $19,448.

McNally’s largest contributions were $4,000 from the Matriots Political Action Committee of Columbus, which supports female candidates in Ohio, and $3,000 from the Operating Engineers Local 66, District 2 of Pittsburgh.

Her biggest expenses were $5,960 to Inkvia of Monrovia, Calif., for campaign literature and yard signs and $5,283 to City Printing of Youngstown for campaign mailers and other printed materials.

She had $12,398 left in her campaign fund as of July 13, which included a carryover from last year.

Ronald Shadd, a former Youngstown school board member running in the primary, raised $4,380, with $3,000 coming from him, and spent $3,542, with $2,125 for television ads being his largest expense.

He had $1,297 in his fund as of July 13, which included a carryover from last year.

Also, John R. Dyce of Hanoverton raised $437 and spent $207 between Jan. 1 and July 13 while Wayne Penny Jr. reported he didn’t raise or spend money on his campaign for this elected position.

There is no Republican in this race with Poland Township Trustee Eric Ungaro planning to file Monday as an independent. Greg Beight of New Springfield, a business owner, is considering a run.

Anthony Protopapa, a former Struthers City Council president, had interest in seeking an independent bid but won’t run after being appointed New Middletown’s police chief Wednesday.

∫ 58th: In Mahoning County’s other House race, the 58th District, state Rep. Al Cutrona, R-Canfield, had more money in his campaign fund as of July 13 than any candidate running for a General Assembly seat in the Mahoning Valley.

Cutrona and Canfield Councilman Bruce Neff, his Democratic challenger, are running unopposed in the Aug. 2 primaries. They’ll face each other in the Nov. 8 general election.

Cutrona raised $48,895, including $31,850 from PACs, between Jan. 1 and July 13 and gave himself a $60,000 loan on Wednesday. The loan was after the reporting deadline, but it’s not uncommon for candidates to list money raised after that date.

Cutrona said he had “specific goals” he wanted to achieve for the reporting period and rather than “burden my constituents who are dealing with high inflation and high gas prices, (the loan) was a way to reach my goals without putting pressure on people financially.”

Among his donors was the committee for county Engineer Patrick T. Ginnetti, a Democrat, giving $350.

“I’ve got support from both Republicans and Democrats,” Cutrona said.

Cutrona spent $34,771 in the pre-primary period with $13,704 going to the campaign committee of state Rep. Thomas Hall, R-Madison Township, and $10,000 to the Ohio House Republican Alliance, which raises money for House Republicans.

Cutrona came into the year with $235,321 in his fund and reported a $309,444 surplus in his pre-primary report.

Neff raised $16,150, including $7,250 in loans he and his wife Clare gave to the campaign, and spending $16,086, with $13,750 going to Colossus Strategies of Canfield for consulting and campaign management in the pre-primary period.

Neff had $64 in his fund as of July 13.

∫ 33rd: The candidates for the 33rd Senate District seat, who are running unopposed for their nominations Aug. 2, already have raised a considerable amount of money for the general election.

Incumbent Michael Rulli, R-Salem, raised $119,069 between Jan. 1 and July 13 while Robert Hagan, a Youngstown Democrat and former state legislator, collected $79,887. Rulli has received $24,850 of his money from PACs while Hagan got $29,984 from them.

Hagan spent $10,320 this year as of July 13 while Rulli spent $82,935. Rulli’s biggest expense was a $50,000 payment on July 1 to the Republican Senate Campaign Committee for advertising and campaign support.

As of July 13, Rulli had $86,621 in his campaign fund, which includes money carried over from previous years, while Hagan had $70,278, which included a smaller carryover.

TRUMBULL COUNTY

In the Democratic primary for the 64th House District, Peterson raised and spent more than Bennett.

Between Jan. 1 and July 13, Peterson received $37,855 in contributions with his top donors being $13,704 from Reid Hoffman of Menlo, Calif., a venture capitalist who co-founded LinkedIn; $5,000 from America 2.0, the PAC of U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, Peterson’s boss; and $5,000 from Robert Korandovich of Galena, Ohio, owner of KOREnergy.

Peterson also received a $4,927 in-kind contribution from the Ohio Democratic Party for direct mail.

He spent $39,018 in the pre-primary period with his biggest expenses being $10,000 to Danny Thomas of Struthers, his campaign manager, and a $5,000 donation to the ODP.

Even though Peterson spent more than he raised between Jan. 1 and July 13, he ended the period with a $21,133 surplus in his fund because of money he collected last year.

Bennett raised $21,847 in the pre-primary period, with the Matriots PAC being her largest donor at $2,500.

She spent $23,712 between Jan. 1 and July 13 with the largest expenses being $3,000 each to PredictWise of New York City for media and information services and to Sterling Strategies of Chicago for campaign consulting. She also paid $2,593 to First Class Campaigns LLC of Cuyahoga Falls for campaign consulting.

Like Peterson, Bennett spent more than she raised in the pre-primary period. But her carryover from last year was smaller, leaving her with $244 as of July 13.

Meanwhile, Santucci, who will face the winner of the Bennett-Peterson race in the Nov. 8 general election, raised $75,250 between Jan. 1 and July 13, including $12,200 from Republican state legislators and fellow candidates.

During the pre-primary period, Santucci spent $40,559 with his largest expense being $28,064 to H&F Strategies LLC of Chagrin Falls for campaign consulting.

With a large carryover from last year, Santucci had $133,479 in his campaign fund as of July 13.

∫ 65th: In the Republican primary for the 65th House District, the other Trumbull County legislative race on the Aug. 2 ballot, incumbent Loychik, R-Bazetta, received $40,204 from Jan. 1 to July 13 in contributions, including $13,404 from PACs and $10,000 each from the campaign committees of state Reps. Jason Stephens, R-Kitts Hill, and Jay Edwards, R-Nelsonville.

Loychik also received a $15,900 refund he paid to AAE Holdings of Durham, N.C., for Katie Pavlich, a Fox News contributor, to speak at an April 21 fundraiser. The event was canceled a few days before it was to be held.

Loychik spent $89,501 — more than twice what he raised — in the pre-primary period.

The money he paid for Pavlich directly to AAE and the rest to the Trumbull County Republican Party for her appearance are among his largest expenses.

His other major expenses were $27,587 to iHeart Radio and $9,800 to Cumulus Media for radio commercials as well as $10,000 to the Ohio House Republican Alliance and $9,900 to WFMJ for television ads.

Because of money he had from before Jan. 1, Loychik had $24,092 in his campaign fund as of July 13.

Law of Warren Township, his Republican primary challenger, reported raising and spending no money from donors.

Law gave $6,011 to his campaign in in-kind contributions for various items such as signs, banners, printing and postage costs and space at the county fair.

No Democrats filed to run in the district.

Aug. 1 is the deadline for any independents to file to qualify for the Nov. 8 election.

If none file, the winner of the Republican primary will become the representative-elect.

∫ 32nd: The 32nd Senate District seat is not up for election this year, but it is in 2024.

dskolnick@vindy.com

dskolnick@tribtoday.com