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Dems fail to make gains in Ohio Senate
When looking at the makeup of the Ohio Senate, you wonder how Democrats captured no Republican seats in that legislative body when they made huge gains nationwide.
The party took control of Ohio’s executive branch in 2006, winning elections for governor, attorney general, treasurer and secretary of state.
On that same ballot, Democrat Sherrod Brown beat Republican Mike DeWine, a longtime incumbent, for a seat in the U.S. Senate.
During last week’s election, the state went with Barack Obama, the first Democratic presidential nominee to win Ohio since Bill Clinton in 1996.
Democrats also regained the majority in the Ohio House with this election, ending 14 years of Republican control.
Democrats picked up two congressional seats last week. The outcome of another congressional race is too close to call.
Yet Democrats picked up no seats in the state Senate, where Republicans kept a 21-12 majority.
In 2006, the party grabbed one Republican seat in the Senate. Republicans have been the majority party in the Senate since 1985.
The Nov. 4 election was the Ohio Democratic Senate Caucus’ most recent failure in a long, miserable line.
A shake-up in January did no good.
Changes were obviously needed. Those changes were made Wednesday.
The caucus selected state Sen. Capri Cafaro, D-32nd, of Liberty, who became assistant minority whip during the January coup, as its leader.
The caucus also selected state Sen. Jason Wilson, D-30th, of Columbiana, as assistant whip, its No. 4 leadership position. The assistant whip helps the whip count and track the caucus’ votes.
Feel free to laugh that it takes two people to make sure 10 others — including the leader and assistant leader — vote as a bloc.
The caucus also asked Wilson to serve as its campaign chairman, a newly created nonstatutory position that would have him leading the charge to recruit candidates and raise money.
Wilson has not yet accepted that appointment.
“The Democrats in the Senate are desperate for a win,” said state Rep. Robert F. Hagan, D-60th, of Youngstown, who spent 10 years in the Senate, and didn’t mean the comment as an insult to Cafaro and Wilson. “What they did in the past didn’t work. They’re willing to bring people on who are new and see if that can make a difference.”
Cafaro and Wilson probably don’t have the experience to handle their new responsibilities. But the Senate caucus has been so inept over the years that putting them in charge can’t do much harm.
Besides, the caucus retained its assistant minority leader, and state Sen. Ray Miller, D-15th, of Columbus, a failure as leader since January, is staying on as whip.
Cafaro and Wilson were both appointed to unexpired terms in the state Senate, effective January 2007, and won their first elections last week. [Cafaro was unopposed.]
They’re both energetic — particularly Cafaro, who while speaking to me opened a bag of Skittles that turned her desk into a rainbow of fruit flavors — and have a lot of money, again particularly Cafaro.
Their first order of business is finding a successor to state Sen. John Boccieri, D-33rd, of Alliance, who was elected last week to Congress and is leaving the state Senate at the end of the year. The district’s population center is Mahoning County.
Cafaro and Wilson will have a huge say in who is appointed to replace Boccieri.
It was initially going to be an easy decision before state Rep. Ronald Gerberry, D-59th, of Austintown, opted not to run.
Among those interested in the seat are: Mahoning County Commissioners John McNally IV of Youngstown and Anthony Traficanti of Poland [McNally more so than Traficanti], Alliance Councilman-at-Large Steve Okey, Youngstown 4th Ward Councilwoman Carol Rimedio-Righetti, Boardman Trustee Robyn Gallitto, and Poland Trustee Robert Lidle.
Because Mahoning County dominates the district’s population, it’s a safe bet the caucus will select a candidate from that county.
The decision is expected sometime next month.