Commissioners face challengers in primary

Kenneth A. Carano is the only incumbent Ohio House member from the Valley to face primary opposition.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Incumbent commissioners in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties will have opponents in the primary.
Mahoning Commissioner David Ludt will square off against Joseph W. Naples, a former Youngstown councilman, and M. Mike McNair, publisher of the Buckeye Review, in the May 7 Democratic primary.
The winner of that race will meet Jeffrey J. Groat, a former Austintown Township trustee who recently switched to the Republican Party.
The filing deadline for independent candidates is May 6, the day before the primary.
In Trumbull County, Commissioner James Tsagaris is being challenged in the Democratic primary by David C. Cook of Warren. Tom O'Neil of Warren is the lone Republican candidate to file for the job.
The race for Columbiana County commissioner is shaping up to be the most hotly contested primary in the county.
Incumbent Democrat Dave Cranmer is facing off against fellow Democrat Dale Landsberger of East Palestine.
On the Republican side, county Recorder Gary Williams filed Thursday for commissioner. He'll face Greg Rayburn of Wellsville, Don Vos of Washingtonville and Wayne Wallace of Lisbon.
State House: Kenneth A. Carano, an Austintown Democrat, and Sylvester Patton, a Youngstown Democrat, are the only incumbent Ohio House members from the Valley to have opponents in the primary.
Carano is being challenged by David P. Sisk of Boardman, who has never run for office before, and Patton's opponent is Jerry McNally, a former Youngstown councilman.
In Trumbull County's 65th District, five candidates are seeking the office. The seat is being vacated by state Rep. Anthony A. Latell Jr., a Girard Democrat running for Congress.
On the Democrat side, former Girard Mayor Joseph J. Melfi and Barry Profato, a former Niles councilman and two-time unsuccessful candidate for Niles mayor, are seeking office.
Other Democrats in the race are Matthew J. Cataline of Hubbard and Sandra Stabile Harwood of Niles.
James A. Calko Jr. of Lordstown is unopposed on the GOP side.
Three Republican candidates are running in the 61st Ohio House District primary with the winner facing state Rep. John Boccieri, a New Middletown Democrat, in the November general election.
State Senate: Holly Hanni was the only Republican to file for the 33rd Ohio Senate District seat and will face state Sen. Robert F. Hagan, a Youngstown Democrat, in the November election.
Mahoning Republican Party officials had tried to persuade Jeff Green, a local Ohio Lottery Commission official, to run for the seat against Hanni. But Green decided Thursday not to run because seeking the post would have probably forced him to leave his lottery job.
Judicial races: Judge C. Ashley Pike of Columbiana County Common Pleas Court and T. Elliott Hough of Canfield filed to run in the Republican primary for a seat on the 7th District Court of Appeals. The winner faces incumbent Judge Joseph J. Vukovich, a Poland Democrat, in November.
A surprise filing came from James Callen, the former head of the Citizens League of Greater Youngstown, who is the lone Democrat for a seat on the common pleas bench currently held by Judge R. Scott Krichbaum, a Republican seeking re-election.
XCONTRIBUTORS: Norman Leigh of the Salem Bureau and Stephen Siff of the Warren Bureau.
skolnick@vindy.com