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Novice challengers in Ohio House race
This is the first time on the ballot for three of the four challengers.
YOUNGS-TOWN — The three Ohio House members who represent Mahoning County face opposition in the general election, but none of the challengers has ever been elected.
State Rep. Ronald V. Gerberry of Austintown, D-59th, faces Republican Dick McCarthy, a Boardman Republican.
Republican Tim Gordon faces state Rep. Robert F. Hagan of Youngstown, D-60th.
State Rep. Mark Okey of Carrollton, D-61st, has two opponents: Republican Kirk Susany of Beaver Township and Paul Ray of Alliance, an independent.
This is the first time on the ballot for any of the challengers except Ray, who’s lost races for city council and school board in his hometown.
Gerberry, whose 35 years of government experience includes more than 20 years in the state House, says education reform and job creation/retention will be the two key issues facing the state in 2009.
Gov. Ted Strickland and Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher, who’s also the head of the state Department of Development, will set the agenda for the two issues, Gerberry said.
It will then be up to the Legislature to cooperate to get the proposals moving.
When asked for his top priority, Gerberry said it’s constituent service.
“It’s not very colorful or get you a headline in The Vindicator, but constituent service is very important,” he said.
McCarthy, 25, wasn’t born when Gerberry first started serving in the Ohio House.
He criticized Gerberry for naming constituent service as his top priority.
“That’s absurd,” McCarthy said. “In the Mahoning Valley, that shouldn’t be your top priority.”
McCarthy’s top priority is to bring more jobs to the area.
For that to be accomplished, the state must make sure that its public universities’ curriculum is aligned with job opportunities in Ohio, and workers must receive training and educational opportunities to create a skilled work force.
The communities in the 59th District include Boardman, Canfield, Poland and most of Austintown.
Hagan, a state legislator for 22 years, criticized the Republican-led Legislature for doing nothing this past session.
“We’ve met so little and we’ve done so little,” he said. “The Republican leadership doesn’t deal with health care, education or energy.”
An early supporter of universal health care, Hagan said he hasn’t given up on the idea although state government leaders don’t have it on their radar.
He also wants to invest in manufacturing to create high-tech, green energy jobs.
Gordon also wants to attract alternative energy jobs to the Mahoning Valley.
Also, Gordon said the Legislature needs to make school funding a primary focus for reform
The 60th District includes Youngstown, Struthers, Campbell, Lowellville, Coitsville and a portion of Austintown.
Okey is seeking his second term in the House.
Okey has a plan for public school funding but says Strickland will set that issue’s agenda.
Among Okey’s proposals for education include: creating a state income tax for public schools, eliminating the estate tax, and use money in the public education budget line to fund only public education, with money for private charter schools and voucher programs in a separate budget line.
Susany, operator of a construction company, and Ray, a substitute teacher for the Alliance school district, didn’t respond to requests from The Vindicator for information on their candidacy.
The Mahoning County portion of the 61st District includes the county’s southern tier.
skolnick@vindy.com