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Court of appeals candidate Robb gave $101,532 to her campaign
YOUNGSTOWN
Columbiana County Municipal Court Judge Carol Ann Robb, a 7th District Court of Appeals candidate, gave $101,532 to her campaign.
Of that amount, $75,000 went toward television commercials on cable and local network affiliates, according to her pre-general campaign finance report.
Pre-general reports are for financial activity between June 7 and Oct. 15. The reports had to be filed by Thursday.
Judge Robb had $25,786 in her campaign account before the start of the pre-general-election time period. She raised $36,920 from campaign donors between June 7 and Oct. 15. She spent $49,000 from donors in the pre-general time period.
However, the judge also spent all of the $101,532 she gave her campaign from her personal funds.
In comparison, Anthony Donofrio, who is running against her, had $17,509 before the pre-general period. He raised $50,150 from donors, more than Judge Robb, between June 7 and Oct. 15, and spent $55,736.
His largest donor was his mother, Angela C. Donofrio, who gave $11,420.
His wife, Cheri, lent $5,000 to the campaign, and he and his wife spent almost $8,000 to cover expenses related to his campaign during the pre-general time.
Donofrio and Robb are vying for the seat being vacated by Judge Joseph Vukovich, who is retiring.
Judicial candidates don’t have party affiliations on the ballot, but Judge Robb is a Republican and Donofrio, a Youngstown deputy law director, is a Democrat.
Judge Robb isn’t the only judicial candidate relying heavily on her own funds to get elected.
Susan Maruca, a Mahoning County Probate Court judicial candidate, lent $38,000 to her campaign in the pre-general time, and $77,050 total for this election. She narrowly won the Democratic primary for the seat in May.
The total amount of money Maruca has given to her campaign fund is $155,203 with $78,153 lent for her failed 2008 run for probate court judge still unpaid.
She spent $76,251, most of it for TV and radio ads, between June 7 and Oct. 15.
Also, Maruca charged $5,078 on a credit card during the pre-general time for campaign expenses, bringing the total amount her campaign has in credit-card debt to $14,773.
Her opponent, Judge Robert N. Rusu, had no money before June 7.
He received $75,485 in contributions from donors in the pre-general time and spent $54,340 with $32,200 going to Communications Counsel Inc., a Columbus firm, with $27,200 for TV and radio ads and a $5,000 consulting fee.
Gov. John Kasich, a Republican, appointed Rusu, an independent, to the seat effective July 8. Rusu succeeded Mark Belinky, the Democratic incumbent who resigned before the primary and was convicted May 8 of tampering with records.
The other countywide contested race in Mahoning pits incumbent Auditor Michael V. Sciortino, a Democrat, against Republican Ralph T. Meacham.
Sciortino had $14,773 in campaign funds going into the pre-general time and raised $29,303 between June 7 and Oct. 15. He spent $30,430 during that time.
Sciortino was indicted May 14 on various political corruption charges and has pleaded not guilty to all of them.
Meacham got into the race late, replacing Bill Reese as the Republican nominee on Aug. 10 after Reese withdrew because of health reasons.
Despite the late start, Meacham raised $39,335 — $10,032 more than Sciortino in the pre-general time — and spent $26,491.
Two of the top Mahoning Valley candidates in terms of raising money from donors between June 7 and Oct. 15 were unopposed in the primary and are unopposed in the general election.
Senate minority leader Joe Schiavoni, D-33rd, received $109,411, much of it from political action committees, and Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court picked up $68,585 in contributions from donors.