DAVID SKOLNICK \ Politics Where have all the Republican candidates gone?

When it comes to partisan elected officials in Mahoning County, you'd only find two Republicans.
At the end of this year, Youngstown Councilman Richard Atkinson of the 3rd Ward will be out of office because of the city's term limits law. Poland Mayor Ruth Z. Wilkes is selling her house and won't run for re-election so she too will be gone at the end of this year.
Republicans hold nonpartisan elected positions such as township trustees and school board members. Republicans also hold some nonpartisan judicial seats. That's largely because the governor fills judicial vacancies, and Republicans held that job for the past 16 years. With Democrat Ted Strickland as governor, the era of Republican judges appointed in Mahoning County is over for at least the next four years.
Over the past decade or so, Mahoning Republicans have failed to field candidates in numerous partisan races.
Recent history is quite telling. In the November 2006 general election, only one Mahoning Republican ran for a partisan seat.
That person was Kasey C. Shidel of Canfield for the 59th Ohio House District seat. A political newcomer who had only recently moved into the district, Shidel ran against state Rep. Kenneth A. Carano of Austintown, who easily won.
Republicans failed to field candidates for the 33rd Ohio Senate District, the 60th Ohio House District, county commissioner and county auditor. The only other partisan race in the county on November's ballot was for the 61st Ohio House District seat. Only a small portion of Mahoning County is in that district and the Republican nominee was Brant Luther of Alliance. He lost.
Things aren't much better on the city level.
Republicans didn't have candidates in three of the seven city council races in Youngstown in 2003, the last time those positions were on the ballot. That was actually an improvement for Republicans over previous years.
There hasn't been a Republican candidate in Struthers in years.
The local party has done little to encourage Republicans to run for office. Some Republicans say the party's inability to be competitive has discouraged them from running. Republicans can complain all they want about how bad it is for the county to be under one-party rule, but talking doesn't make the GOP more competitive.
The lack of Republicans interested in running for political office is nothing new.
In 2001, the party ran newspaper advertisements seeking Republican precinct committee members. It didn't matter if people weren't Republicans or had ever voted in a Republican primary. The only no-no was they couldn't be precinct committee members if they had voted in the previous two Democratic primaries.
Republicans lucked out. During the past six years, the number of precincts in the county was cut from 416 to 287. The party still has trouble filling the seats, particularly in Youngstown, but at least there are less seats to fill.
Acknowledging its trouble recruiting candidates, the Republicans are holding an open house at their party headquarters -- 621 Boardman-Canfield Road in Boardman -- on Feb. 17 from noon to 3 p.m.
Republican Party officials, school board members and township trustees will be there to provide information about election opportunities this year and in 2008 and how to become a candidate.
The party wants to bring new people into the fold. That's a nice thought. But nearly every new person running as a Republican for a partisan seat in Mahoning County during the past decade was easily defeated by a Democrat, and most were never heard from again.
There is no quick fix for Republican leaders who want to have a legitimate political party. Instead of having complete unknowns with no political experience run for the state Legislature or a county post, have them run for township trustee, city council or school board.
The party needs to somehow convince Republicans serving as township trustees to come out of their hiding places, step up and run for county office or the state Legislature. Also, the party's old guard that provides a bulk of the GOP campaign money needs to properly fund these candidates. Until then, the only competition Democratic primary winners will have in general elections will be independent candidates.