BOARDMAN — In an atypical move, the Mahoning County Republican Party — through its executive committee — decided to endorse in contested races on the March 19 primary ballot.

Tex Fischer, party first vice chairman, said, “we discussed it in the past and we thought it was a good opportunity and a good time to weigh in. We want to start being more influential.”

Party leadership decided it would be more efficient to get the executive committee together to vote on endorsements, Fischer said. There are about 45 executive committee members and about 25 to 30 participated in the endorsement process.

Party Chairman Tom McCabe said slightly less than half of the executive committee are selected by the central committee by region and the rest are appointed by him and the other party officers.

There are about 200 central committee members, who are elected by members of their precincts. The central committee will meet next week to discuss the executive committee’s endorsements, McCabe said.

The party, through the executive committee, endorsed candidates in 2018, McCabe said.

Over the past several years, the party endorsed two candidates — Greg Beight in 2022 for the 59th Ohio House District and Robert Rusu in 2014 for Mahoning County Probate Court judge. In both cases, the candidates were independents and there wasn’t a Republican in either race.

“For a long time the party hasn’t had a strong position on endorsements,” said Mark Munroe, an executive committee member and former party chairman. “The bylaws are silent on it. The party has gotten stronger. That’s why the climate has changed and it made sense to endorse.”

The decision was made that any endorsed candidate would need support of at least two-thirds of the executive committee members in attendance, Fischer said.

“We don’t want endorsements to be divisive,” he said. “We want them to unite the party. Practically all were unanimous except for a couple that had one or two vote differently.”

The party endorsed Donald Trump for president, Michael Rulli for the open 6th U.S. Congressional District seat, Mary DeGenaro for the open 7th District Court of Appeals position, David Shaffer for county clerk of courts, and incumbents David Johnson and Allison Zwicker for state central committee man and woman.

“The power of the party is in the endorsements,” McCabe said.

The party’s executive committee didn’t give candidates seeking the endorsements an opportunity to speak, Fischer said.

The party declined to endorse in the three-person primary for U.S. senator because none of the candidates were able to capture two-thirds of the vote, Fischer and McCabe said.

“We couldn’t come to a consensus on that as all of the candidates had support,” Fischer said.

The party will endorse in the future, but a decision on if it will remain with the executive committee or be opened up to the larger central committee hasn’t been decided, Fischer said. There is the possibility of endorsing in township and school board races, but a decision hasn’t been made, he said.

“We want to be a stronger force in the area,” Fischer said. “We’ll have a specific plan in the future.”

The decisions to back the candidates who received the endorsements weren’t difficult, he said.

Rulli has represented Mahoning County in the state Senate for the past five-plus years and the party strongly supports Trump, Johnson and Zwicker, Fischer said.

The endorsement of DeGenaro, a former 7th District Court of Appeals judge and ex-Ohio Supreme Court justice, was “not a repudiation” of Columbiana County Municipal Court Judge Katelyn Dickey, her opponent in the Republican primary, Fischer said.

“Mary DeGenaro has been a longtime supporter of the party and she’s honestly overqualified for the job,” Fischer said.

Backing Shaffer for clerk of courts “was not a difficult decision,” Fischer said.

Shaffer, who lost a 2016 election for the seat, faces Michael P. Ciccone in the Republican primary.

Ciccone angered several party leaders — particularly McCabe, who is also director of the county board of elections — when he filed a court complaint contending there was massive fraud in the Struthers Municipal Court race in November that saw Jennifer Ciccone, a Republican, lose by 10.2% to James Melone, a Democrat.

The case was filed Dec. 1 and voluntarily dismissed a week later.

The candidates endorsed by the executive committee will be included on party literature, have free access to party headquarters in Boardman, and will be given the party’s volunteer and donor lists, McCabe and Fischer said.

Early voting started today for the March 19 primary.

The decision by the Mahoning GOP comes days after the Trumbull County Republican Party chose not to take the recommendation of a bylaws committee on a series of changes, including endorsing in the primary.

The rejected proposal would have required the central committee to meet no more than 30 days after the filing deadline on an endorsement or denouncement of candidates. If the central committee didn’t meet 30 days after the filing deadline, the executive committee could do so for endorsements or denouncements.

The Columbiana County Republican Party traditionally endorses candidates in primary elections.