YOUNGSTOWN — Among the Republican candidates running for Mahoning County commissioner, Austintown trustee Bruce Shepas raised the most money in the preprimary period, including a $20,000 loan from the candidate.

Shepas raised $23,350 from donors in addition to the $20,000 loan he gave his campaign in the preprimary period, between Jan. 1 and April 15. The primary is May 5.

Shepas’ largest contributors were $5,000 from Mash Investment Co. LLC of Canfield and $2,500 from Andrea Arnold of Austintown.

Shepas also spent $15,783.37 in the preprimary period, with his largest expenses being $5,457.50 to WFMJ for television commercials and $5,050 to Lamar Companies for billboards.

Shepas had $29,327.89 in his campaign fund as of April 15, which included a small carryover from his trustee races.

Canfield Councilwoman Christine Oliver raised $14,062.30 in the preprimary period, with $2,500 contributions from Charles T. George of Canfield, Michael Hill of Peninsula and Lorraine Ellis of Boardman and a $2,000 contribution from Richard C. Fryda of Columbiana.

Oliver spent $3,019.42 in the preprimary period.

Having already raised money in 2025 for the campaign, Oliver started 2026 with a $15,432.61 surplus in her fund. As of April 15, Oliver had $26,475.49 in her campaign fund. Overall for this campaign, Oliver raised $45,489.72 — all from donors.

Canfield Mayor Don Dragish, the other Republican seeking his party’s nomination for county commissioner, raised $12,050.75 between Jan. 1 and April 15, with $2,500 coming from J.J. Cafaro of Brookfield and $2,000 from his brother, Anthony Cafaro Sr. of Vienna.

Dragish spent $5,074.94 in the preprimary period with $2,500 going to Lamar for billboards. Dragish had $6,974.81 in his campaign fund as of April 15.

State Rep. Lauren McNally, the lone Democrat running for the open commissioner’s seat, raised $28,850 in the preprimary period. She received $10,000 from the ACT (Affiliated Construction Trades) Ohio Foundation of Columbus, $5,000 from Laborers International Union Local 125 of Boardman and $2,500 contributions from three other labor unions.

McNally spent $29,979.84 in the preprimary period, with her largest expenses being $11,419 to Lamar for billboards and $7,843.40 to City Printing of Youngstown for signs and campaign mail.

McNally terminated her Ohio House campaign account on Jan. 31 and transferred the $36,295.81 she had in it to her county commissioner account.

McNally’s campaign had $35,165.97 in it as of April 15.

JUDICIAL RACES

There are two open common pleas court general division judicial seats and an open domestic relations judge position up for grabs this year.

There are two-person Republican primaries for all three seats, while Democrats for each position are running unopposed.

In the general division race for the seat currently held by Judge John M. Durkin, the Republican candidates are Anissa Modarelli and Ralph Rivera, while J. Michael Thompson is the Democratic nominee.

Rivera raised $30,408.52 between Jan. 1 and April 15. He spent $28,586.58 in the preprimary period with his largest expenses being $14,313.92 to Spencer Federal LLC of East Liverpool for campaign management, signs and mail, and $6,902 to Ax Media of Kansas City, Missouri, for radio ads.

Rivera had a $47,404.71 carryover from last year, largely due to $45,000 in loans given to his campaign. Rivera gave $15,000 on Oct. 15. His wife, Candace, gave $10,000 on Dec. 22 and Marilyn Blackstone of Campbell gave $20,000 on Dec. 21.

Rivera had $49,226.65 in his campaign fund as of April 15.

Modarelli raised $25,991.47 in the preprimary period, including a $6,000 loan she gave on April 6. She had previously loaned $2,000 to her campaign on Dec. 10.

Modarelli spent $21,546.42 during the preprimary period with her largest expenses being $6,831 to Lamar for billboards and $5,072.28 to the Tippecanoe Country Club of Canfield for a fundraiser.

Modarelli had $18,692.02 in her fund as of April 15, which included carryover from money raised in 2025.

J. Michael Thompson is the lone Democrat in that race.

In the preprimary period, Thompson raised $7,150 with $2,000 coming from the Plakas Mannos law firm in Canton.

Before the preprimary period, Thompson loaned $10,000 to his campaign on Dec. 23 with his mother, Carolyn, giving $5,000 on Dec. 26.

During the preprimary period, Thompson spent $11,565.65 with his largest expense being $8,150.36 to ART Advisors LLC of Columbus for consulting, advertising and web design.

Thompson had $32,050.59 in his fund as of April 15, which included carryover from 2025.

In the other general division race for the seat held by Judge R. Scott Krichbaum, Republicans Ross T. Smith and Edward Czopur are vying for their party’s nomination. Mark D’Apolito is the lone Democrat to file.

In the preprimary period, Smith raised $15,500 and spent $17,323.70. Including a carryover, Smith had $9,378.40 in his fund as of April 15.

Czopur raised $11,453.55 and spent $2,281.47 in the preprimary period. He had $9,172.08 as of April 15.

D’Apolito raised $15,700 from donors in the preprimary period and gave a $25,000 loan to his campaign on Jan. 16.

After $3,946.25 in expenses, D’Apolito had $36,753.45 in his fund as of April 15.

In the domestic relations judicial race for the seat held by Beth A. Smith, Kathleen Bartlett and Mark A. DeVicchio are running for the Republican nomination with Terry A. Grenga as the lone Democrat.

DeVicchio didn’t file a preprimary finance report as of Friday, according to the board of elections.

Bartlett raised $12,108 from donors in the preprimary period. Before the filing period, her husband, Alan, loaned $60,005 to her campaign on Aug. 12.

During the preprimary period, Bartlett spent $36,218.53 with her largest expenses being $16,711 to Cumulus Media for radio and digital ads and $8,955 to iHeart Media for radio ads.

Bartlett had $9,227.94 in her campaign fund as of April 15.

Grenga raised $850 from donors and loaned $3,567.45 to her campaign during the preprimary period. Grenga spent $4,824.44 between Jan. 1 and April 15, but because of a $1,000 refund, she ended the period with $593.01 in her fund.

Krichbaum and Beth A. Smith couldn’t run for reelection this year because of the state’s age-limit law on judges, while Durkin decided to not seek another term.