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Gains questions foe’s independence
The challenger said he’s never been on the Democratic executive committee.
YOUNGSTOWN — Mahoning County Prosecutor Paul J. Gains filed a complaint against an independent challenger who the prosecutor contends actually is a Democrat and thus ineligible to run.
In a protest and request for hearing filed Thursday with the county elections board, Gains, the Democratic incumbent, asks that Marty Yavorcik be disqualified because he isn’t really an independent.
Yavorcik said Gains’ claim is false.
In his complaint, Gains wrote Yavorcik signed his official statement of candidacy as an independent Feb. 22 while he served as a member of the county Democratic Party’s executive committee. Gains wrote that a day later Yavorcik sent a letter to party Chairwoman Lisa Antonini resigning from the party’s executive committee.
Gains, of Boardman, points to Ohio law that those filing documents as independents “must actually be independent, rather than merely claim it.”
Gains also contends Yavorcik’s claims that he is truly independent is a sham.
Yavorcik, also of Boardman, said he attended an executive committee meeting earlier this year, but he’s not a member.
He said the letter was an official way for him to disassociate himself from the party.
“I never held a position,” he said. “If [Gains] wants to kick me off the ballot for this, good luck. He’s definitely wrong.”
Antonini, of Austintown, said Yavorcik isn’t and wasn’t on the party’s executive committee.
The Ohio secretary of state’s office issued an opinion last year, based on a federal court case, that if a candidate serves on an executive committee of a political party after filing as an independent, that person’s “claim of independence was either not made in good faith or is no longer current.”
That opinion led to the disqualification of 16 candidates who filed as independents in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties last year.
The opinion doesn’t address what happens to a person who signs an official statement of candidacy as an independent when that person is affiliated with a political party.
Jeff Ortega, a secretary of state spokesman, said the decision on Yavorcik’s eligibility rests with the county elections board, and the secretary would get involved only if there’s a tie vote. Because the matter is pending before the board, Ortega declined to comment further.
Antonini, who also is county treasurer, contends Gains’ complaint is based on problems the two have related to the county’s purchase of the Oakhill Renaissance Center, something Antonini opposed.
Gains sent a letter to the Ohio Ethics Commission in October concerned about the reasons for Antonini’s opposition, and the commission agreed to open a probe two months later.
Also, Gains supported John Shultz of Boardman in his failed attempt to beat Antonini in the March Democratic primary for treasurer.
“Paul Gains has made it clear he’s trying to investigate and indict me,” she said. “Paul Gains actively supported my challenger in the primary as did his staff. This is the hand he dealt himself.”
Gains said Antonini’s statement about investigating her is false. He only asked the commission to investigate and isn’t doing it himself.
Antonini said she is supporting Yavorcik’s independent bid against Gains. She added, when asked, that she wouldn’t lie about Yavorcik’s not being an executive committee member.
skolnick@vindy.com