43
Dems plan to reopen search
The caucus has received recommendations from the four county Democratic parties in the district.
The Ohio Senate Democratic Caucus plans to reopen the search to select the replacement for outgoing state Sen. John Boccieri, at least partly because of concerns about the pasts of two of the Mahoning County nominees.
The caucus, which received candidate recommendations from the four county Democratic parties in the 33rd Ohio Senate District, expects to ask others to directly apply to it. The caucus is made up of Boccieri, who gets no vote, and the 11 Democratic senators.
The Mahoning County Democratic Party’s executive committee last week recommended: ex-Mahoning County Commissioner David Engler, a county school board member; Struthers Councilman at large Daniel Yemma, the county treasurer office’s chief deputy treasurer; and Poland Trustee Robert Lidle.
Sources close to the caucus say some members are concerned about selecting Lidle or Engler because of the candidates’ past legal problems.
The Ohio Supreme Court issued a “public reprimand” to Engler, an attorney, in August 2006 for having engaging in a consensual sexual relationship with a client. Engler said the one issue shouldn’t define his years of public service.
Lidle was found guilty twice, May 20, 2002, and March 24, 2003, of driving under the influence. Lidle takes responsibility for the convictions, but said he’s learned from them and has proved himself to be an effective officeholder.
Even with the apologies, some caucus members won’t consider Engler or Lidle for the appointment. Part of that is the public sexual harassment scandal at the attorney general’s office under the watch of Marc Dann, a Liberty Democrat, that led to his resignation in May. Because of that, caucus sources said, the senators are less forgiving of those from the Mahoning Valley with baggage.
The other three counties in the district have made their recommendations as to who should succeed Boccieri, who is resigning late this month for a seat in the U.S. House, which he won in November.
Although seven people sought recommendations from the Stark County Democratic Party’s executive committee, only one — Alliance Councilman at large Steve Okey — was selected.
Each county party could recommend up to three candidates.
The committee members “felt he was by far the best choice and the best candidate,” said Stark Democratic chairman Johnnie Maier.
Okey, of Stark County, finished a distant fourth in the Mahoning County vote. Mahoning is the largest county in the district in terms of population.
Maier said he was bothered that many of the candidates from Mahoning County didn’t seek the recommendation of his county.
In Carroll County, Democratic chairwoman Ruby Gilliam, with the assistance of a few Democratic officials in the county, also recommended one candidate: Brian R. Thomas of Perrysville in Carroll County, who lost the 2004 race for the 18th Congressional District.
Tuscarawas County Democrats selected Thomas, Lidle, and Stacia Erdos Littleton, former television news anchor at WYTV in Youngstown, who currently works for WPXI, a Pittsburgh TV station, as their nominees.
Erdos Littleton finished sixth on the Mahoning Democratic vote. Thomas didn’t seek Mahoning’s recommendation.
The six recommended candidates are expected to be interviewed Monday by the four-member Ohio Senate Democratic Caucus’ leadership team. The candidate selected by the team will be presented for approval to the full 11-member caucus sometime between next Tuesday and Dec. 18.
Additional candidates would also be interviewed Monday.
Some caucus members are leaning toward Okey, but the problem is that he isn’t from Mahoning, the largest county in the district. Because of that, he could face a Democratic primary challenge in 2010 from a candidate from Mahoning, something the caucus members want to avoid.
That has also led to discussions to reopen the process.
State Rep. Ronald Gerberry of Austintown and Pat Lowry of Youngstown, U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan’s regional press secretary, who both announced their candidacies but opted to not seek the appointment, said Monday that no one from the caucus has contacted them and they don’t want to be considered.
skolnick@vindy.com