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Joe Louis Teague, who ran for office numerous times, has died
YOUNGSTOWN
Joe Louis Teague, a candidate for numerous elected offices and one of the most colorful characters in local politics, has died.
Teague, who died Friday at age 72, unsuccessfully ran for Youngstown mayor at least three times, 3rd Ward councilman twice and once for Youngstown council president, Mahoning County commissioner and for a U.S. House seat.
Teague was brought to St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital for an infection in his blood system and went into cardiac arrest, said Joe Louis Teague Jr., one of his six children.
Teague was remembered as loving politics, Youngstown and being an advocate for the less fortunate.
“He was always outspoken and he donated a lot of his time to help people in this community,” his son said. “He was a great guy who genuinely cared about people. Maybe he didn’t have the education to run for office, but from a common-sense standpoint, he knew so much.”
While Teague lost a number of races, he was elected twice as a Mahoning County precinct committeeman in 2010 and 2014, and was an early local backer of President Barack Obama during the 2008 presidential campaign and actively campaigned for the president in 2012.
Jay Williams, who beat Teague and four others in the 2005 Youngstown mayoral election, said, “Joe Teague truly did have a heart and passion for the city. Sometimes we agreed, and sometimes we didn’t, but at the end of our discussion he would always tell me, ‘Keep on doing what you’re doing, young man.’”
Williams, who now heads the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration, added: “I always appreciated his encouragement. Our prayers and condolences go out to his family.”
Youngstown Mayor John A. McNally said, “Joe was quite a character, always interesting to talk to and [was] engaged in his community. He was always politically active and was a vocal community member.”
County Democratic Party Chairman David Betras said of Teague, “I really liked him. He was active. We need more people engaged like Joe.”
In 2009, Teague was disqualified as an independent candidate for Youngstown Council president based on incorrect advice he received from the board of elections about the number of signatures he needed to get on the ballot.
“I’ve been shafted,” he said at the time. Teague added, “If I was told the right number of signatures, I could have gotten them in 15 minutes.”