MAHONING COUNTY Spending meant wins in most races

There was only one race that saw the winner spend less than the loser.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- For the most part, candidates in Mahoning County who spent the most money in last month's election won their races.
Post-election campaign reports, detailing financial activity from Oct. 16 to Dec. 5, had to be filed by Friday with local county boards of elections. Reports filed Friday and pre-general election reports filed in August in Mahoning County show that those who spent and raised the most money won nearly every race.
In Youngstown, the four school board winners last month spent more than their competitors. Also, the placement of the top five vote-getters is the same order as the biggest spenders among the candidates.
Jamael Tito Brown, the top vote-getter in the school board race, spent the most money among the 13 candidates. Brown spent about $5,000 on his campaign, including $1,750 during the final three weeks of the campaign.
Shelley Murray, who finished second, spent about $3,500 on her campaign, the second most amount of money among the school board candidates.
Michael K. Write, who finished third, spent the third most amount of money of the candidates, about $2,000, and Kathryn Hawks-Haney, who captured the fourth and final spot on the board, also finished fourth when it came to campaign spending. She spent $1,373, or $136 more than Joyce Lomax, who finished fifth and lost to Hawks-Haney by 0.3 percent of the vote.
Democrat James E. Fortune, who beat Republican Tracey S. Monroe-Winbush in the Youngstown council president's race, spent about $10,000 on his race, including more than $8,300 in the final weeks of the campaign. Monroe-Winbush spent about $5,700 on her campaign.
Most money spent
The most expensive race in Mahoning County was for Austintown trustee, with most of the money raised coming from the candidates.
Lisa L. Oles, who won the seat, spent $20,108 on her campaign; all but $745 came from her. Richard Edwards, whom she beat, spent about $15,000 on his campaign, all of it coming from his pocket.
The only candidate in Mahoning County to outspend his opponent and lose was outgoing Struthers council President Danny Thomas Jr.
Thomas spent about $5,800 on his campaign, compared with $1,796 for Robert D. Carcelli, who beat him by 12 votes. Thomas spent $1,169 during the final days of his campaign, and has $3,103 remaining in his campaign account, almost twice as much as Carcelli spent on his entire campaign.
skolnick@vindy.com