YOUNGSTOWN – Three independent candidates filed for Youngstown mayor, including at least two who may face eligibility issues.

Those who filed by Monday’s deadline — the day before the primary election — for Youngstown mayor were John White, Aleesha Foster and Derrick McDowell.

The Mahoning County Board of Elections has until July 15 to certify the candidacy of those who filed as independents for Youngstown mayor as well as for Struthers council at-large and treasurer, and village council in Poland.

For Youngstown mayor, an independent candidate needs 134 valid signatures to qualify.

Foster, of South Lakeview Avenue, filed petitions with 139 signatures so she can only afford to have five signatures invalidated or she won’t be certified by the Board of Elections.

Foster said she was running for mayor to change the city’s direction. Her son, Charles E. Allen Jr., 27, was killed inside a nightclub on April 3, 2021.

White, of Mount Vernon Avenue, was ruled ineligible when he sought to run for mayor in 2021 as an independent.

As it did in 2021, the Board of Elections will have to determine if he is permitted to run based on the Youngstown city charter and will heavily rely on the legal opinion of the city’s law director.

On June 12, 2021, Jeff Limbian, then the city’s law director, ruled White wasn’t eligible to be a Youngstown mayoral candidate based on his interpretation of the city charter and state law. The Board of Elections agreed with the decision on July 6, 2021, and didn’t certify White to the ballot. Kenneth D. Myers, then White’s attorney, objected.

At the time, Myers threatened legal action, but none was taken when it was discovered that White had voted in the Democratic primary after filing as an independent for mayor. Voting in a partisan primary after filing as an independent in Ohio disqualifies a candidate from running.

The board voted 4-0 to not certify White for voting in the primary and for violating the city charter.

The charter reads: “The mayor shall be an elector and resident of the city for the five years immediately preceding the mayor’s election, and not less than 30 years of age.”

White registered to vote Feb. 5, 2021. Shortly after that, he said he hadn’t voted in about 30 years.

The 2021 registration means White hasn’t been an elector of Youngstown for the five years immediately before this year’s election. White contends he is eligible and that he registered in 2020, which isn’t what elections board records show.

White is facing felony charges of disrupting public service and domestic violence after allegedly causing damage and acting violently at a Liberty home he owns because his eligibility is being questioned.

His wife — Councilwoman Amber White, I-7th Ward — called Liberty police Friday telling officers her husband began acting irrational over his eligibility for mayor and threw a crockpot toward her, threw her car keys on the roof of a garage and her cellphone into a watery ditch.

McDowell, of Genesee Drive, is founder of the Youngstown Flea.

He said: “For me, this isn’t about political advancement. It’s about purposeful assignment. I’m running for mayor to ensure that the work surrounding ‘reclaiming our identity’ and securing Youngstown’s future is shaped by its people, not just its politics.”

The Democratic primary election today pits two-term incumbent Mayor Jamael Tito Brown against 3rd Ward Councilwoman Samantha Turner.

No Republicans filed for mayor.

Richard Yaslik of Brunswick Road filed as an independent candidate for council president. He ran in 2023 as an independent for 5th Ward councilman against Democrat Pat Kelly. Yaslik got 32.9% of the vote in the two-man race.

Alex Rubino of South Schenley Avenue filed as a write-in candidate for Youngstown council president. His name won’t appear on the Nov. 4 ballot, but there will be a line to write it in. Rubino had initially planned to gather the needed signatures to run as an independent for the seat.

The write-in deadline is Aug. 25.

The Democratic primary today has 4th Ward Councilman Mike Ray facing 6th Ward Councilwoman Anita Davis for the open seat. Democrat Tom Hetrick declined to run for reelection.

Tracy Randall, the lone Republican to file for council president, was ruled ineligible by the Board of Elections because of a lack of valid signatures on her nominating petitions.

Dallas Bigley, a Struthers councilman at-large for more than seven years, filed as an independent candidate. Bigley had run for his four previous two-year terms as a Democrat. He changed his party affiliation to Republican in 2024.

Only incumbents Megan Pingley and James Baluck filed as Democrats for the three council at-large seats available in Struthers this year.

Also, Struthers Treasurer Mark T. Brenner filed as an independent. He is the only candidate for the position.

Brenner was first elected to the post in 2021 as a write-in candidate, getting 783 votes to 62 for Erika Rudzik, who also ran as a write-in in that election.

In the village of Poland, there are four council seats open.

The six independent candidates who filed by Monday’s deadline were: Samuel M. Moffie, Chris Graff, Abbie Lynn Bosak, Laurie LaPlante, Becky Rudzik and Kelsey Moreton.

The first three are elected incumbents.

LaPlante was appointed in March to replace Michael Zembower, who resigned in February because he moved out of the village. LaPlante was selected over Rudzik by a 3-2 vote of village council members in the third round of voting. Moreton also sought the appointment, but was eliminated in the first round when no council member voted for her.

Moffie had previously won in 2017 and 2021 as a Republican, but filed as a nonpartisan because he worked for the U.S. Postal Service. Postal employees aren’t permitted to run as partisan political candidates.