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David Skolnick

Tressel’s heart not in the race

A Vivek Ramaswamy-Jim Tressel matchup for the Republican gubernatorial nomination would have been fascinating. But Tressel, who went from retired Youngstown State University president and a famed former college football coach to being appointed lieutenant governor, opted not to run in 2026 for governor. It never seemed that Tressel’s heart was in a governor’s campaign. It’s understandable considering he was named lieutenant governor a little more than seven months ago after never running for public office. Tressel constantly deflected questions about his candidacy while only ...

New Democratic congressional map for Ohio goes nowhere fast

You’ve got to give Democratic state legislators a little credit for their quixotic congressional redistricting map proposal. At least they offered something even though the map was never going to go anywhere. The Democratic redrawing of lines would take the current map that favors Republicans 10-5, though two of the Democratic districts are very much tossups, and make it an 8-7 map in favor of the GOP. The Democrats introduced the map Tuesday. By Wednesday, the House Rules Committee, controlled by Republicans, didn’t even bother to refer the bill to a committee. Not that it ...

Wealth, political party play pivotal roles in judge races

Running for the court of appeals — particularly for the first time and especially for an open seat — is an expensive venture. When Katelyn Dickey ran in 2024 for a vacant seat on the Youngstown-based 7th District Court of Appeals, she loaned $205,000 to her campaign fund with her husband providing $150,000. Dickey raised only $5,800 for the campaign from outside donors with $5,000 coming from the Columbiana County Republican Party. Judicial candidates need to use their personal wealth to fund campaigns because they are prohibited from receiving campaign contributions until 180 ...

Acton rolls out endorsements with Ryan’s candidacy looming

With Democrat Tim Ryan on a self-imposed Sept. 30 deadline to decide if he’s going to run for governor, Amy Acton, the lone declared Democrat for the position, is rolling out endorsements. The endorsements, including some locally, likely won’t impact Ryan’s decision. But it’s an effort to show Acton has support and isn’t going anywhere, even if the former 20-year congressman, who used to represent the Mahoning Valley in the U.S. House, enters the gubernatorial race. It’s no coincidence that the endorsements started coming out right after it was initially reported Aug. 12 ...

Many Valley candidates run slipshod over ballot petitions

Filling out nominating petitions, particularly if it’s your first time running for elected office, can be confusing for some. That’s why the boards of elections in Mahoning and Trumbull counties provide candidates with information about what needs to be filled out in order to qualify for the ballot. Yet still a number of potential candidates don’t bother to accept the generosity of the boards, which are trying to help them. Instead, plenty of candidates print nominating petitions off websites, rather than pick them up at the board. They run the risk of filling them out ...

Sherrod Brown faces uphill battle to win back Senate seat

Democrat Sherrod Brown plans to run next year for the U.S. Senate, where he served for 18 years before losing in 2024. He faces an uphill challenge. Brown certainly provides Democrats with the best chance to win the seat because of his decades of elected experience and strong name recognition. But it also shows how much the Democratic Party is struggling in Ohio. If Brown didn’t run for the Senate, there wasn’t a real backup plan. The only other possible Democrat name of note mentioned to take on Republican Jon Husted, appointed in January by Gov. Mike DeWine to fill a ...