YOUNGSTOWN — Two candidates applied to be appointed by the Mahoning County Democratic Party’s central committee as the next county prosecutor.

The committee will vote Jan. 7 on who will fill the unexpired term.

Gina DeGenova, a 17-year county assistant prosecutor and the current acting prosecutor, and Brad Gessner, a Summit County assistant prosecutor since 2005, were the only ones to submit letters of interest to the county party for the appointment by Friday’s deadline.

The position is vacant because of the Nov. 30 retirement of Paul J. Gains, who served as county prosecutor since Jan. 1, 1997.

Whoever is appointed will serve the rest of Gains’ term, which ends Dec. 31, 2024. An election for a full four-year term is in November 2024.

A nine-member county Democratic Party screening committee will meet shortly with DeGenova and Gessner and review questionnaires that will be submitted by the two regarding their plans for running a campaign for the seat in 2024, said party Chairman Christopher Anderson.

The screening committee will produce a report but not provide a recommendation to the central committee, he said.

“We want to arm our central committee members with information to help them determine the highest quality candidate and best person to lead the Mahoning County prosecutor’s office,” Anderson said. “This process will help the committee pick the best candidate. It’s about electability.”

The central committee will meet Jan. 7 at the St. Luke Banquet Hall on South Avenue in Boardman to hear from the two candidates — and anyone else who is nominated and gets a second at that meeting — before making a decision.

The person appointed needs a majority vote from the committee members in attendance to win.

That meeting will start at 10 a.m. with each candidate having up to 30 minutes in front of the committee: 15 minutes for a presentation and another 15 minutes to answer questions, though it can be shorter, Anderson said.

After a lunch break, the committee will vote to fill the vacancy about 12:30 p.m. that day, he said.

The six central committee members from Youngstown’s 5th Ward will meet at 9 a.m. that day to appoint a council member to replace Lauren McNally, who is resigning at the end of the year to join the Ohio House of Representatives.

DeGenova of North Lima, who is considered the favorite to get the appointment, was selected by the county commissioners, effective Dec. 1, to replace Gains on an acting basis until the Democratic Party vote.

DeGenova has been a county assistant prosecutor since 2005. She has been chief assistant prosecutor in charge of the criminal and civil divisions as well as the office’s public information officer for about two years.

Gessner, of Austintown, has worked as an assistant Summit County prosecutor since 2001 and is its chief counsel. He was an assistant Mahoning County prosecutor from 1989 to 1996. Gessner also served on the Austintown Board of Education.

Gessner sought the acting prosecutor appointment from the county commissioners, who chose DeGenova. Gessner unsuccessfully ran in the 2004 Democratic primary for county prosecutor against Gains.

dskolnick@vindy.com