MAHONING COUNTY Batton quits race for board

Tim Batton said he's quitting to help Dave Ditzler's chances.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Tim Batton is out of the race for Mahoning County commissioner, even though his name will remain on the ballot, and is urging his supporters to vote for David Ditzler in the Democratic primary.
Batton, of Canfield, said he left the race because of his fear that he and Ditzler, of Austintown, will split the vote during the March 2 primary, enabling Anthony Traficanti of Poland, who worked as the regional director for former U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr., to win the race. William Flickinger of Youngstown is also running in the Democratic primary. The commissioner's post is now held by Vicki Allen Sherlock, who isn't running for re-election. Sam Moffie of Boardman is the lone Republican in the race.
"We're going after the same voter base," Batton said, referring to Ditzler. "By staying in the race, it would help Anthony, and that's a big concern." If Traficanti is elected, the county's image would be hurt, said Batton, who specifically referred to Traficant's 2002 federal corruption trial. Traficant was sentenced to eight years in federal prison for bribery, racketeering and tax evasion. A jury found Traficant guilty of a mail fraud act of racketeering for having Traficanti and two other former staffers work on his Greenford farm while collecting a federal paycheck. Traficanti was never charged with a crime, and when Traficant was kicked out of Congress, the clerk of the House appointed Traficanti to run the 17th Congressional District office.
Reaction
Traficanti said he was outraged at Batton's statements, and called him a liar. "He lied to me," Traficanti said.
"He had complimented me on the job I did, and always had praise for me. This isn't Tim Batton talking. Those are Leo Jennings' and David Ditzler's words out of his mouth. They're so worried I'm going to win the election. That's not the Tim Batton I know." Traficanti said Batton must have been offered some sort of deal to get out of the race, something Batton and Ditzler deny.
"He's a phony," Traficanti said of Batton. Ditzler and his supporters "know I'm going to win and they're doing everything to destroy me. This political game, I hate it. I've been lied to. People stab you in the back. I'm very, very hurt by Tim's comments. It's very sad."
Said he's shocked
Ditzler said he was shocked to hear that Batton was out of the race, and that he had nothing to do with the decision. Also, Ditzler said Jennings, a political consultant, is not running his campaign, as Traficanti claims. Ditzler said he is only using Jennings' company to produce his television commercials.
"Traficanti is going to spin this to his best advantage," Ditzler said. "Obviously his reaction is he's pretty upset. If he's upset, he feels this will have a negative impact on him. This will help me. Tim's been working so hard, and he's a good man. I wouldn't have thought that he'd get out of the race."
Batton's name will still remain on the Democratic primary ballot. The deadline to get his name off the ballot has passed. But Batton will no longer campaign for the seat, and will urge his supporters to vote for Ditzler. Batton said he has spent about $15,000 on the campaign. But he said his message of focusing on economic development and improving the county's image hasn't been met with much interest from voters.
"I'm not getting the traction on my message, and I could split the vote and create a real problem for the county," Batton said. "I don't want to allow the image of corruption to return to the county."
Batton said he hopes to run for county office in the future.
skolnick@vindy.com