POLITICS Presidential election diverts focus from state, local races

Supreme Court justices and candidates expect voter drop-offs for their races.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- With heightened attention paid to the presidential election in Ohio, state and local candidates are finding themselves largely ignored.
For example, polls conducted on the three Ohio Supreme Court races show a high percentage of voters undecided on whom they support.
"People aren't looking at the Supreme Court races," said Supreme Court Justice Terrence O'Donnell. "They're more interested in the presidential race. There's not a lot of interest in our races, and you won't see any more attention to us. The public hasn't focused on this election. Ask people to name a member of the Ohio Supreme Court, and they can't."
Justice O'Donnell expects about 25 percent of those voting in the Nov. 2 general election to not cast ballots in the Supreme Court races.
"I don't think the voters of Ohio have an idea about who they're voting for in the Supreme Court races," added Judge William O'Neill of the 11th District Court of Appeals, Justice O'Donnell's general election opponent.
The presidential campaigns of President Bush and U.S. Sen. John Kerry, his Democratic challenger, have spent millions of dollars on television and radio advertisements in Ohio, considered a key battleground state. The presidential candidates also can bump other political commercials from the airwaves.
In some cases, local candidates are purchasing TV time at a higher rate to guarantee that even if they are bumped by Bush and/or Kerry, their commercials will at least air, said state Rep. Kenneth A. Carano, a Democrat running for re-election for the 59th Ohio House District seat.
"Radio is almost shut down as far as having air time to sell to local candidates," he said. "Also, it's getting more expensive to buy time."
Officials in the Bush and Kerry camps say the presidential race in Ohio will be close, and plan to continue to air commercials in the state. Also, numerous nonprofit political organizations are spending millions of dollars on TV and radio spots in Ohio.
Less attention
The candidates and their surrogates make frequent trips to Ohio, and those visits make it on the front pages of local newspapers, and usually lead the local TV news.
"We're getting lost in the shuffle," said Philip O. DeCapito, a Republican running for Trumbull County commissioner. "All we hear about is the presidential candidates, and the local candidates are not getting the attention we need. The local candidates are relegated to the back of the newspaper, while Bush and Kerry are on the front page."
Randy Pope, a Republican running for the 61st Ohio House District seat, says he's having trouble finding people interested in his race.
"It's been quite an eye-opener," he said. "People don't really seem to care about this race."
Judge Nancy A. Fuerst of Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court, a state Supreme Court candidate, said: "We're not on too many people's radar. It's a tough race to run. It's tough to get your name out."
Even Chief Justice Thomas J. Moyer of the Ohio Supreme Court, who probably has the most name recognition statewide of any judicial candidate running in a competitive election next month, says there is little attention paid to state court races this year.
"That's the way it always is," he said. "Most people don't pay attention to who's on the Supreme Court. People don't have an understanding of the court, and they have priorities for their time. We have a large impact on people, but a lot of people don't realize it."
Tired of politics
Paul Sracic, a Youngstown State University political science professor, said even if local and state candidates get TV or radio time for ads, Ohioans are tired of political commercials, and will probably ignore the local spots.
"People are so burned out," he said. "This has got to be the longest presidential campaign in history."
Sracic said typical political commercials featuring candidates talking about their attributes, endorsements and what they'll do if elected will do little to nothing to attract interest to their campaigns.
"They need to air commercials to make people think it's not a political commercial," he said. "You almost have to trick the viewer and listener that it's not a political ad."
Sracic pointed to two local examples:
U The TV commercials aired in the 2002 race by U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, who was running in the 17th Congressional District. The commercials showed Ryan walking door-to-door campaigning with music playing from Good Brother Earl, a quirky Pittsburgh band. It is only at the end of the ad that you could tell it's a political ad as copy appears asking people to vote for Ryan.
U The other is more recent. Wade W. Smith Jr., who is challenging Judge Theresa Dellick of Mahoning County Juvenile Court, is airing radio commercials that sound like an episode of the TV show "Jeopardy!" In the commercial, someone acting as the show's host asks unflattering questions, and the answer each time is Judge Dellick.
"Candidates need something unusual to get the message out," Sracic said.
Unaware
John McNally IV, a Democrat running for Mahoning County commissioner, said he comes across people who are unaware there are county races on next month's ballot.
"With Ohio being inundated with ads and the presidential candidates and surrogates coming into this area, it takes focus off of [local] campaigns," he said. "I don't know if you can break through the clutter of the presidential race. You keep going out to all the events you can; spaghetti dinners, bingos, candidate forums and high school football games, and you put up yard signs."
skolnick@vindy.com