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Traficant still enjoys support in the Valley
Does the name James A. Traficant Jr. mean anything to Mahoning Valley voters?
There is no doubt that the ex-congressman/ex-con has his supporters.
More than 1,000 of them are paying $20 each to attend Sunday’s “Jim Traficant Appreciation Dinner” at Mr. Anthony’s banquet hall in Boardman to celebrate his Wednesday release from federal prison. (The proceeds will go to pay for the celebration, organizers say.)
This is an event that most likely won’t include an appearance by Traficant. But tickets for the dinner have sold well on name recognition alone.
Traficant’s release, of course, has drawn renewed interest in him. But he still has his share of admirers — just read the comments to any Traficant article on Vindy.com.
When Traficant ran for the Ohio 17th Congressional District seat as an independent from federal prison in 2002, he received 20.8 percent of the vote in Mahoning County.
He received 16.9 percent of the vote in Trumbull County.
Think about that.
More than 20,000 people in Mahoning and Trumbull counties voted for a felon who had been convicted a few months earlier on 10 criminal counts including racketeering, bribery and obstruction of justice.
Traficant didn’t campaign. He was in a federal prison in Pennsylvania when the votes were cast and counted.
If elected, Traficant would have served from prison.
Because of his indictment and criminal trial, he stopped going to Washington, D.C., for about six months. He returned in July 2002 for his impeachment hearing.
Taking that into account, he still had enough political muscle to give Ann Womer Benjamin, the failed Republican candidate in that congressional race, a battle for second place in Mahoning County.
Womer Benjamin received 27.8 percent of the Mahoning vote, or only 7 percent more than Traficant.
Both were easily beaten by Democrat Tim Ryan, who continues to hold that seat.
It’s been more than seven years since Traficant has been a free man.
While we don’t have any way of knowing for sure, I think Traficant’s days in politics are over.
But his name means something to politicians.
How else do you explain why some of the Mahoning Valley’s most prominent politicians won’t say anything — or much of anything — about Traficant’s release?
Ryan is touted as a leader in changing the Valley’s image and economy.
Yet a request for a brief interview on the impact of Traficant’s return to the area was rejected.
I repeatedly asked Brad Bauman, Ryan’s spokesman, for a few minutes with the congressman to talk about Traficant.
In one e-mail I wrote last Friday: “I want to talk to Tim today or Monday for a few minutes on the release of Traficant. Can you make it happen?”
Bauman’s response: “We’ll make some time on Monday.”
Instead, Ryan’s office released a statement Monday wishing Traficant well and that the ex-congressman “has a lot of catching up to do and deserves his privacy.”
Additional requests to talk to Ryan about Traficant were denied or ignored.
The area’s highest profile elected official has basically nothing — good or bad — to say about the area’s former highest profile elected official getting out of prison.
While Ryan hid, at least he issued a statement.
Mahoning County Commissioner Anthony Traficanti, who served as Traficant’s regional director, and Mahoning County Commissioner David Ludt, who testified on behalf of Traficant at the ex-congressman’s federal trial, didn’t return telephone calls seeking comment.
I wasn’t looking for condemnation of Traficant. I wanted to get the thoughts of local political leaders who knew Traficant about the release.
Some stepped up, but many stepped away.
So much for leadership.