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Democrats hold on
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State Rep. Ronald Gerberry, D-59
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Mark Okey
Election Night 2010
Gallery
By Elise Franco
Democrats in Mahoning County had no trouble retaining their seats in an election that held little surprise for incumbent candidates.
State Rep. Ronald Gerberry of Austintown, D-59th, claimed victory over Republican Mike Pestian and Libertarian Patrick Manning with 58.9 percent of the vote.
Gerberry has been a member of the Ohio House of Representatives since 2007.
Gerberry said he looks forward to returning to Columbus and will continue to work hard for his district and the Mahoning Valley.
“Obviously, I’ll continue to strive to work on job retention and gaining new jobs,” he said. “I think the jobs issue is something that has been there and will continue to be, and it’s something we all will continue to work hard on.”
The state representative said he thinks voters opted to re-elect the incumbents because of their track record.
“We’re supposed to represent what the community wants,” he said. “I really believe [we] represent the people that live here, and people trust that. They understand that, and they’ve given us their support.”
Gerberry said the overwhelming voter support is a motivating factor to him.
“I think the people, in general, believe those individuals they’ve elected are sincere in their desire to do what’s right and represent the interest in our community,” he said. “I think it rectifies in us that we really believe in doing what’s right.”
With 80 percent of precincts reporting, state Rep. Mark D. Okey of Carrollton, D-61st, defeated Republican candidate Michael Foit of Amsterdam with 52.7 percent of the vote. Okey served as the 61st District’s state representative in 2006 and was re-elected in 2008.
In the 60th District, state Rep. Robert Hagan of Youngstown easily beat Republican candidate Daniel R. Thimons with 81 percent of the vote.
Hagan didn’t return calls to comment Tuesday evening.
Incumbent Joe Schiavoni of Canfield, D-33rd, held a comfortable lead throughout the night, beating Republican Matt Lewis and Libertarian John K. Fockler Jr. in the lone race for Ohio Senate.
Schiavoni took 63 percent of the vote in his victory.
The start of the new term will mark Schiavoni’s first full term as state Senator. The Senate Democratic caucus appointed Schiavoni, effective January 2009, to serve the remainder of the unexpired term of John Boccieri, now a congressman.
“It’s exciting to me because this is really the first time I’ve been on the ballot,” Schiavoni said. “It makes me so proud to see the support, and motivates me to get back down to Columbus and get to work.”
Schiavoni said he has three major goals in mind for the upcoming term, beginning with balancing the budget by July.
“The budget is going to be a big-time battle,” he said. “Then we have to bring in jobs, fix the public- education system and clean up the blighted neighborhoods.”
Schiavoni said voter support is important to him and local incumbents.
“Obviously, the people want to keep us down there,” he said. “It shows we are a team down in Columbus. We work hard for the Mahoning Valley, and their votes reflect that.”