Frenchko political plan brings intrigue

September 15, 2023

While several candidates are expected to file for two Trumbull County commissioner seats up in next year’s election, there is nothing more intriguing than what Niki Frenchko, one of the incumbents, plans to do. Frenchko, a Republican, has nominating petitions for both the seat she holds, as well as for the seat currently held by Democrat Mauro Cantalamessa, seeking re-election. To be polite, the two don’t get along. Frenchko will face a Republican opponent in the primary regardless of her decision. Not only does Frenchko have to figure out which Republican is easier to defeat, ...

State redistricting to resume

September 8, 2023

The Ohio Redistricting Commission will meet Wednesday for the first time in more than a year to work on state legislative maps with little time to finalize. It’s the latest in a series of moves to get federal and state legislative maps in place for the 2024 election. The federal map used last year, despite being ruled unconstitutional by the Ohio Supreme Court, will remain for the 2024 election. (More on that below.) With a Dec. 20 filing deadline for candidates running in the March 19, 2024, primary, there isn’t much time to resolve the state legislative issues. The Ohio ...

Abortion issue goes back to court

September 1, 2023

The abortion rights constitutional amendment is heading back to the Ohio Supreme Court — this time over the summary language that voters will see on the Nov. 7 ballot. The Ohio Ballot Board recently approved language for the amendment that supporters of the proposal say is misleading. Opponents of the abortion rights ballot issue say the summary language from the ballot board is more accurate than what pro-choice supporters propose. The board consists of five members: two Republican state legislators, two Democratic state legislators and Secretary of State Frank LaRose, a ...

Mistakes keep candidates off ballot

August 25, 2023

Running for local elected office, such as township trustee or for a seat on the board of education, isn't easy. It's particularly challenging if you've never done it before. So it wasn't surprising that 22 candidates who turned in nominating petitions in Mahoning County and 12 in Trumbull County didn't qualify for the ballot because of various problems with properly completing those documents. However, what is surprising is that of 34 who didn't qualify, 11 were incumbents. The front page of each nominating petition has a statement of candidacy at the top and a nominating statement ...

Redistricting change sought at the ballot box

August 17, 2023

While the effort just kicked off and has a long way to get certified, there’s an effort to get a constitutional amendment on the 2024 general election ballot to again change state and federal legislative redistricting. Citizens Not Politicians, a group spearheading the effort, collected about 7,300 signatures from 31 counties in about four days. The group needs at least 1,000 to be valid to start the process. Also, Attorney General Dave Yost will decide next week if the lengthy summary of the proposed ballot issue is a truthful statement of what is being proposed. After that, ...

Abortion foes face much work ahead for Nov. vote

August 10, 2023

If Issue 1 was a precursor to an abortion rights constitutional amendment to appear on the Nov. 7 ballot, those who oppose the latter have work to do. Turnout for Tuesday’s special election statewide was 38.48 percent, which would be good for any election except those during a presidential year — and it was at a time when most people are not accustomed to voting. Turnout in Mahoning County was 36.15 percent with 58.22 percent of voters opposing it. Turnout in Trumbull County was 37.16 percent with 57.15 percent of voters opposing it. Turnout in Columbiana County was 37.56 ...