Correspondent photo / John Patrick Gatta Christine Oliver, standing, Canfield City Council president, discusses primary election results with supporters at Belleria restaurant in Canfield. Oliver beat back a challenge from Canfield Mayor Don Dragish and Austintown trustee Bruce Shepas to win the Republican nomination for Mahoning County commissioner. She will face Democrat Lauren McNally in the November election.

YOUNGSTOWN — Carol Rimedio-Righetti will end her 25-year public service career at the end of 2026, and the Democrat has tapped State Rep. Lauren McNally, D-Youngstown, as her preferred successor. Now the legislator knows who she will face in the November general election.

Republican voters on Tuesday selected Canfield City Council President Christine Oliver as the party’s nominee for the seat.

“It took a whole team of people who put our heart and soul into this campaign for nearly two years. I cannot possibly thank everyone enough for helping with signs, making and collecting donations, standing at the polls, and everyone who voted for me,” Oliver said. “I am grateful to everyone. But now the real hard work begins tomorrow, for the general election and our new opponent we have to face, and we’re going to work just as hard. This is only the beginning.”

Should she win in November, she will join Geno DiFabio as the second Republican on the board, flipping the political balance of power on the county’s governing body for the first time in more than 50 years. Republicans have not had a majority presence on the board since 1971.

According to unofficial results from the Mahoning County Board of Elections, as of 9 p.m., Oliver was defeating her opponents, Austintown Trustee Bruce Shepas and Canfield Mayor Don Dragish, with 44% of the vote to their respective 35% and 20%.

A U.S. Navy veteran and ardent supporter of law enforcement, Oliver said she would focus on public safety, responsible economic development and protecting senior citizens from increasing tax burdens.

Oliver opposed Mahoning County Commissioners’ decision to not double the homestead exemption and owner-occupied property tax exemption.

While the state reimburses the county for the value of the original homestead and owner occupied tax exemptions, the recently passed law that would allow county commissioners to increase those exemptions by as much as double does not provide for reimbursement from Columbus.

In February, Mahoning County Auditor Ralph Meacham explained to commissioners that the decision to increase the exemptions would cost the county at least $12.2 million annually.

In her pitch to provide better support for law enforcement, Oliver — who is the president of the Mahoning County Fraternal Order of Police Associates lodge and founder of Back the Blue Ohio — said she wants to support investments that would strengthen public safety infrastructure and emergency services.

Shepas was elected an Austintown trustee in 2023 and served as board chair last year. Recently elected as the president of the Mahoning County Township Association, Shepas said during the campaign that he does not feel like all of the townships are being well served by commissioners.

Shepas outraised and outspent his opponents, although his $29,000 campaign chest included a $20,000 loan from the candidate himself.

He said that while he found the results disappointing, he is no less committed to doing the job he was elected for three years ago. He said he will work with whoever is in office to get that job done.

“I would like to thank those who supported me throughout this process and extend my congratulations to the Republican candidate for commissioner, Christine Oliver,” he said. “As an Austintown Township Trustee, I look forward to working with our next commissioner and all newly elected officials, in the new year, for the betterment of Austintown Township.”

Shepas said wants the county to have a better rapport with state and federal legislators to help the county secure more funding, and perhaps get Columbus to return some of the funding sources from which counties and townships previously benefitted.

Dragish could not be reached for comment Tuesday night.