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Voters in 64th District House race have choices
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
The race for the open seat for 64th District Ohio House of Representatives gives voters in Warren, Howland and several other townships in Trumbull County a choice between moderate, conservative and independent philosophies.
The seat is open because current State Rep. Thomas Letson, a Democrat from Warren, is prevented from running again by term limits.
The race features one of the best-known Trumbull County political figures of the past two decades — former county commissioner, former Warren councilman and former Warren mayor Michael O’Brien.
It also features the last Republican to serve as 64th state representative, Randy Law, and Green Party candidate Elaine Mastromatteo.
O’Brien, who says he has been elected the last 25 times he has run for office dating back 30 years to his days on Warren City Council, calls himself a “moderate Democrat,” which he says will help him get along in the Republican-controlled Legislature.
Unlike many liberal Democrats, O’Brien supports hydraulic fracturing. That is the sometimes controversial method used to free gas and oil deposits from the shale layers below ground.
But O’Brien says he isn’t siding with Gov. John Kasich and other Republicans regarding the distribution of the state’s cash reserves back to local governments.
Law, who was state representative in the district for one term in 2005-06, conversely, says local governments are doing just fine with the revenue they have, and Ohio’s economy would be even better if the state income tax were phased out.
Law and O’Brien hold similar opinions on an issue that resonates with Trumbull County’s rural voters — septic systems.
Law said septic rules are not fairly enforced by the county health board, and he believes the health department forces people to replace septic systems that still function effectively.
O’Brien says there needs to be reform in the septic regulations. “They are a ridiculous hardship for homeowners, like $30,000 for a new septic system,” he said.
Mastromatteo, of Bristolville, who has never held elective office but ran for Congress in 2012 and Painesville City Council in 2005, believes marijuana should be legalized for medical and recreational uses.
She also believes Ohio should create a state bank to help finance students’ college educations to prevent so many from facing insurmountable debt.
Mastromatteo said she is running “because both sides of the aisle aren’t representing the people of Ohio.”
In addition to Warren city and Howland, the district includes the townships of Braceville, Champion, Southington, Warren, Bloomfield, Bristol, Farmington, Greene, Gustavus, Johnston, Kinsman, Mecca and Mesopotamia as well as the village of West Farmington.