Enthusiasm, experience win in area congressional races

Tuesday's general election provided the Mahoning Valley with a tale of two congressional districts -- one boasting a strong Democratic majority and the other with a slight Republican advantage.
In the 17th District, dominated by Democrats, Timothy J. Ryan, the Democratic nominee, defeated Republican Ann Womer Benjamin and Independent James A. Traficant Jr., who was expelled from the House of Representatives in July and is currently serving an eight-year sentence in a federal penitentiary in Pennsylvania.
But in the 6th, where Republicans have a slight edge, Ted Strickland, the Democratic nominee who has served in Congress for the past eight years, defeated the GOP nominee, Michael Halleck, a former Columbiana County commissioner.
Ryan's tissue-thin resume, his cursory understanding of the issues facing the Valley and the nation and his unimpressive 22-month tenure as a state senator from Trumbull County did not matter to the 92,708 voters -- 51.09 percent -- who cast their ballots for him. Womer Benjamin's eight years as a state representative, her work as a lawyer and her life experiences were overshadowed by the fact that she's a Republican and isn't from the Valley. She garnered 33.76 percent of the 181,464 votes in the race.
The 17th District includes almost all of Trumbull County, a portion of Mahoning County, and parts of Portage and Summit counties. Ryan, 29, is from Niles, while Womer Benjamin, 49, is from Aurora, which is not in the 17th. Her pledge during the campaign to move into this area did not impress a sufficient number of people.
The 27,487 votes that Traficant received shows that even after being found guilty of 10 federal criminal charges, which amount to his using his congressional office for personal gain, there are too many people in this region who continue to believe in him -- despite his criminality.
Political instincts
But while Ryan's victory shows that residents were willing to throw caution to the wind and support someone with little more than youthful exuberance and good political instincts, the voters in the 6th District, which encompasses Boardman and southern Mahoning County, Columbiana County and 10 other counties along the Ohio River, were more circumspect. They obviously weighed Strickland's experience in Washington against Halleck's tenure as a commissioner and determined that what the district needed was someone who would not have to attend freshman orientation seminars.
We applaud the voters of the 6th District for looking beyond party labels and deciding that qualifications and experience do matter.
The Mahoning Valley is fortunate to have a congressman who not only understands the way Washington works, but can offer guidance to a newcomer who will need all the help he can get.
We hope that Ryan recognizes that being a member of Congress isn't the same as being a member of the Ohio General Assembly. His lack of performance in the state Senate did not negatively impact the region. His inactivity as a congressman certainly will. We would urge him, therefore, to not only establish a close working relationship with Strickland, but to reach out to other area congressmen, such as Republican Steven LaTourette, whose district includes Ashtabula County, and Republican Phil English, who represents portions of western Pennsylvania.
It would be a mistake if Ryan viewed his victory as anything more than pure partisan politics in a strong Democratic district.