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David Skolnick

COVID-19 miscount is alarming state failure

Everyone makes mistakes, but some are a lot bigger than others. One of the biggest happened when the Ohio Department of Health recently admitted it failed to report more than 1 in every 4 Ohio COVID-19 deaths. What makes this issue even more alarming is the discovery that the ODH assigned a single person to handle this vital piece of information, and state officials didn’t leave the impression that it’s a huge problem. Hardly anyone was prepared for the COVID-19 pandemic. Eleven months into it and people still are struggling to adjust to significant changes in our daily ...

Ryan’s Senate bid likely to be challenging

U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan is a virtual guarantee to run for the Senate next year with an announcement expected shortly. The race is a major challenge for Ryan, D-Howland, in a state dominated by Republicans for decades with few exceptions. He could face a primary challenge as other Democrats are also considering seeking the office. That would force Ryan to spend money and resources before heading to the general election, assuming he wins the Democratic primary. On the Republican side, there almost certainly will be a primary that could get messy for the party with former state Treasurer ...

Election storylines emerge

While the May 4 primary in Mahoning and Trumbull counties doesn’t have many contested races, there are a number of interesting items to consider. • The marquee race in the area is the Democratic race for Youngstown mayor. That primary pits incumbent Mayor Jamael Tito Brown, who is seeking his second four-year term, against Councilman Julius Oliver, D-1st Ward, and businessman Ryan Kelly. Turnout should be very low, which makes it difficult to predict who will win the primary. In the 2017 Democratic primary, 8,298 people voted in the mayoral election. But that also included ...

Portman exit brings options

To most Democrats, U.S. Sen. Rob Portman is a spineless partisan hack who blindly follows what other Republicans, particularly Donald Trump, tell him to do. To some Trump supporters, Portman has not given enough support to the former president, particularly after the 2020 election results came in, even though he voted 88 percent of the time with him, didn’t vote to impeach in the first Senate trial and almost certainly won’t in the upcoming one. And to longtime Republicans, Portman, R-Terrace Park, is viewed as a smart statesman who was able to cut through the partisan divide he ...

Nation likely to remain divided

The nation is deeply divided and despite rhetoric to come together, don’t expect that to happen. Many Republicans still dislike — even hate — Bill Clinton and Barack Obama and feel the same about Joe Biden. Plenty of Democrats despise George W. Bush, and I can’t print what several think of Donald Trump. We have been a nation of partisan division for a very long time, and while numerous Democrats and Republicans called for unity with Biden’s inauguration, there are hard feelings on both sides that won’t ever go away. There is a large number of Republicans who still ...

Ins, outs of party leadership

Kevin Wyndham said he is resigning Feb. 1 as Trumbull County Republican Party chairman primarily because the job is too demanding. This is the third time a Mahoning Valley political party chairman left the position early in recent years. Mark Munroe retired Feb. 21, 2019, as Mahoning County Republican Party chairman after nine years, saying it “is not an easy job. You make a decision and you make half of your supporters unhappy. Then you make another decision, and you make the other half unhappy.” Soon after, Mahoning County Democratic Party Chairman David Betras resigned ...