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State Sen. Al Cutrona, R-Canfield, is seeking reelection to the 33rd Ohio Senate District seat, facing Democrat Michael Kripchak in the Nov. 3 race.
The district includes all of Mahoning, Columbiana and Carroll counties. The district favors Republicans by about 12% based on statewide partisan election results.
Cutrona was appointed June 26, 2024, to the position, succeeding Republican Michael Rulli of Salem, and was elected in November 2024 to the remaining two years of that four-year term.
This election is for a full four-year term.
Before joining the state Senate, Cutrona was appointed May 28, 2020, to the Ohio House to succeed Republican Don Manning, who died two months prior. Cutrona was elected to a two-year term in November 2020 and reelected in 2022.
Kripchak of Youngstown ran in 2024 for the 6th Congressional District seat, losing a June special election to Rulli for the unexpired term and then lost to Rulli in the November election for a full two-year term.
Cutrona said his top three priorities are cutting taxes - with a focus on property tax relief for seniors and homeowners - as well as growing the Mahoning Valley's economy through targeted state investment and workforce training, and protecting public safety while defending the privacy of law-abiding citizens.
Kripchak said his top three priorities are fixing schools, reworking the state's tax system while increasing affordability and increasing accessibility to the district's state senator.
Regarding cutting taxes and providing property tax relief, Cutrona said he's already supported several bills that move that agenda forward.
That includes, he said, cosponsoring a bill that passed in the state Senate to require the Ohio Department of Taxation to use property sales data supplied by each county auditor when setting valuations to give local officials control over home values, overriding Gov. Mike DeWine's veto on a bill that ends new replacement levies and fixed-sum emergency and substitute school levies that raise taxes without clear voter understanding, and voting for a flat 2.75% state income tax.
If reelected, Cutrona said he would work to pass bills that give every homeowner 65 years of age and older a 50% reduction on property taxes owed after the homestead exemption and 2.5% owner-occupancy credit with no income limit, one that exempts state-required fencing around oil and gas well pads from property tax valuations, and capping the surcharge municipalities may charge neighboring townships for water and sewer service at 25%.
Cutrona said he wants to "continue overriding the remaining property tax vetoes (that) would have continued the growth rate of property taxes and added accountability to local taxing bodies. Override votes remain available through Dec. 31 and I will support reintroducing these reforms as standalone bills in the new General Assembly, if needed."
Kripchak said he wants to rework the tax system as the state's tax burden over several decades "has shifted more and more directly onto our citizens. While I'm still developing a full plan, step one is going to be restoring the Local Government Fund to at least 2011 levels."
Kripchak said: "In broad strokes, I want to decrease the tax burden on our citizens and locally owned small businesses and shift it towards out-of-state corporations that can more easily bear the burden and who have also profited the most from our services, labor and natural resources. We must also enforce anti-trust and anti-collusion laws in Ohio, and update them as necessary to meet the modern business environment."
Kripchak said he wants to get industry back in the district by moving infrastructure funding out of Columbus, Cleveland and Cincinnati.
Cutrona said: "The Valley needs to compete for advanced manufacturing, defense and skilled-trade jobs and keep young people here."
Cutrona said he was able to get more than $6 million for the district in the operating budget and more than $8.5 million in the 2026 capital budget with the funding focused on job training and creation.
In his next term, Cutrona said he wants to move the state Route 11 energy pipeline from "study to reality." The feasibility study states a natural gas pipeline along state Route 11 in Ashtabula, Trumbull, Mahoning and Columbiana counties is viable. The pipeline would cost about $1.3 billion.
Cutrona also wants to "build a homegrown talent pipeline from grade school to the workforce" and to "keep our airports and defense assets competitive."
Kripchak said, if elected, he wants to address school funding by following through on the Fair School Funding Plan.
Kripchak said: "We must also finally obey the law and have a greater portion of funding come from Columbus, thus reducing the burden placed on property taxes."
Kripchak said: "Public education is the surest way to provide the opportunity to elevate one's economic well-being."
Cutrona said another priority of his is public safety and protecting privacy.
The problem, Cutrona said, is "residents want safe communities, but automated license place readers, Flock cameras, are collecting data on law-abiding citizens with too few limits on how it is used."
Cutrona recently introduced a bill to ensure information collected by Flock cameras is used appropriately. The bill wouldn't permit government agencies in the state using Flock cameras to share data with an outside party or for such an entity to solicit the data, and require that data can only be saved in the system for up to 10 days before being automatically deleted.
Cutrona said: "I have shown I can bring dollars home and move legislation through the Senate, and I will keep using that experience to lower costs, create jobs and protect the freedoms of the people of the 33rd District."
But Kripchak said he hears from citizens that Cutrona isn't responsive.
Kripchak said: "I view the position of a legislator through the lens of a servant leader. I succeed when my people succeed. There is no way to understand their difficulties and possible solutions without talking to them. My goal is to regularly hold town halls in order to inform the public and myself, and to have regular contact with our elected officials and service providers."