Infighting among Trumbull Republicans on full display

June 12, 2026

The dysfunction, discord, disharmony and division plaguing the Trumbull County Republican Party was on full display during its recent reorganizational meeting. Practically every person who spoke at the meeting either addressed the infighting that splits its members into two factions or got into arguments over it. But, at least for now, the faction led by Denny Malloy, who lost reelection in the Republican primary for his county commissioner seat, and political consultant Regina McManus controls the party as their candidates, most of them running unopposed, were elected to officer ...

Tressel reflects on enormity, complexity of his state post

June 5, 2026

Gov. Mike DeWine surprised many people when he announced Feb. 10, 2025, that he was nominating Jim Tressel, the retired Youngstown State University president and a former football coach at YSU and Ohio State University, to be lieutenant governor. While a longtime Republican like DeWine, Tressel had never held or run for elected office before the selection. During Tressel’s time as lieutenant governor, DeWine repeatedly said he had the utmost confidence that he would do a great job and if something happened to the governor, he was certain Tressel could run the state. A couple of days ...

Amy Acton runs as unifier while criticizing state GOP

May 29, 2026

One of the main talking points of Democratic governor nominee Amy Acton’s campaign is rather than being a partisan politician, she is a unifying force who will work with Republicans to move Ohio forward. Republicans see Acton quite differently. During a Wednesday campaign stop in Boardman, Acton said: “Above all, a governor is a convener and a catalyzer and a problem solver. I actually trained for this work I do. You saw me do it in COVID, running all of government and all of society in some ways during our crisis. But I did a residency in preventative medicine in public health ...

More changes coming soon for Trumbull Republicans

May 22, 2026

There’s going to be yet another change at the top of the Trumbull County Republican Party. Despite the tremendous success Republican candidates have recently experienced in Trumbull County — winning every contested race on the 2022 and 2024 ballots — the party is plagued by political infighting. Part of the problem is there are a lot of newer Republicans — several are either former Democrats or weren’t politically involved — who want to do things a certain way with established Republicans not agreeing. Part of the problem is personalities, as some people simply dislike ...

Perspectives on DeWine’s fast decision on attorney general

May 15, 2026

Everything happened so fast. Two days after the primary, Attorney General Dave Yost announced May 7 that he was resigning, effective June 7, to take a leadership position with a Christian conservative legal advocacy group. Four days after that, Gov. Mike DeWine said he was appointing Andy Wilson, director of the Ohio Department of Public Safety and a member of his administration for more than seven years, as Yost’s successor. DeWine, a former attorney general, said: “It was very important for me to make this decision quickly. The new attorney general, frankly, has to start ...

Take a deeper dive into election’s winners, losers

May 8, 2026

One interesting part of the primary elections in Mahoning and Trumbull counties was how few people were in contested races for the seats they currently hold. The only incumbents in contested races in the two counties were Trumbull County Commissioner Denny Malloy, Trumbull Auditor Martha Yoder and the Valley’s two U.S. House members — Michael Rulli of Salem and Dave Joyce of Bainbridge. They’re all Republicans. You can also include Thomas Summers, who was reelected as the 32nd District state central committeeman despite losing Trumbull County to Tom Letson. But state central ...