Valley Democrats play major role in party's sweep

A day after the 2000 general election, a then-top Ohio Democratic Party official told me he was somewhat disappointed with the turnout in the Mahoning Valley for Al Gore, the party's failed presidential candidate.
I was shocked to hear him say that because Gore received 61 percent of the vote in Mahoning County and 60 percent in Trumbull County. The counties gave Gore the second- and third-highest margins of victory of any of the state's 88 counties. But Ohio Dems were hoping for close to 70 percent of the Valley's vote.
That sentiment has stuck with me for six years because I thought it was ridiculous. Among the 20 largest counties in the state, Mahoning and Trumbull are two of the most Democratic ones. But 70 percent? Come on.
In 2004, officials with the John Kerry presidential campaign expected to get close to 70 percent of the vote in the two counties. I figured Kerry would get a little more than 60 percent. He received 62.6 percent of the Mahoning vote and 61.7 percent of the Trumbull vote.
My thought at the time was people in the two counties were as thrilled with Kerry as they were with Gore and the numbers would be about the same.
Also, during the 2002 statewide campaign, Democrats fared poorly in the two counties. The Democratic 2002 statewide ticket was filled with candidates who were unknown and poorly funded compared to their Republican opponents. Republicans swept the statewide election that year.
Leigh Herington, the Democratic attorney general candidate in 2002, received only 41.4 percent of the Mahoning vote and 43.8 percent of the Trumbull vote in his failed attorney general's race against Republican Jim Petro. Helen Knipe Smith, the Democratic auditor candidate, received 48.2 percent of the Mahoning vote and 47.1 percent of the Mahoning vote in her poorly-run campaign for auditor against Republican Betty Montgomery.
Even Tim Hagan, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate who was born and raised in the Valley, failed to get 50 percent of the vote in the two counties. He beat Republican Bob Taft by slim margins in the two counties. An independent candidate received enough votes in the counties to keep Hagan from getting 50 percent.
On top of that, U.S. Sen. George V. Voinovich, a Republican, beat Democrat Eric Fingerhut in Mahoning and Trumbull -- and the state's other 86 counties -- in 2004.
So I thought the days of Democratic candidates receiving 70 percent or better from the Valley were over.
How wrong I was.
Democrat Ted Strickland received 60 percent of the statewide vote in his gubernatorial victory Tuesday. He received 75.6 percent of the Mahoning vote and 74.1 percent of the Trumbull vote.
Democrat Marc Dann -- who had the hometown advantage as he lives in Liberty -- received 74.3 percent of the Mahoning vote and 74.8 percent of the Trumbull vote. Statewide, Dann received 52 percent of the vote in his successful bid to win the race for attorney general.
Want to know how important the two counties were to Dann? He beat Republican Betty Montgomery by 179,531 votes statewide. He beat Montgomery by 82,188 votes in Mahoning and Trumbull. That number is close to half of Dann's margin of victory.
It goes right down the line. Jennifer Brunner, the Democratic candidate for secretary of state, received 55 percent of the statewide vote. She received 72.3 percent of the Mahoning vote and 70.4 percent in Trumbull. Richard Cordray, the Democratic treasurer candidate, captured 58 percent of the statewide vote. In Mahoning, he received 72.2 percent of the vote and got 70.5 percent in Trumbull.
The only Democratic executive office candidate on the ballot to lose statewide was Barbara Sykes, who ran for auditor. Unlike the other Democratic statewide candidates, Sykes made only a few visits to the Valley. That could be part of the reason she didn't do as well as the other statewide Democrats on Tuesday's ballot.
She had solid numbers in the Valley getting 67.8 percent in Mahoning and Trumbull, but the other Democrats were in the 70s. She lost statewide to Republican Mary Taylor, who received 51 percent of the vote.