Struthers mayor, city officials take oaths of office
By Sarah Lehr
STRUTHERS
After a re-election characterized by twists and turns, Mayor Terry Stocker took his oath of office Friday in city hall.
Stocker, who ran as a write-in candidate, beat Democratic challenger Danny Thomas Jr. by 72 votes. But, Stocker’s victory wasn’t immediately apparent.
On election night Nov. 3, the Mahoning County Board of Elections released numbers indicating that Thomas had won – also by 72 votes.
The next day, however, the elections board and Stocker’s backers noticed a discrepancy between the number of write-in ballots reported by the board and the number recorded by polling-place scanners.
The board realized it had failed to count 147 write-in ballots cast in the city’s 3rd Ward, officials said.
Stocker’s victory became official Nov. 21 once the board finished counting provisional and absentee ballots.
The board said on election night the 147 ballots mistakenly were placed into a vault before elections officials had the opportunity to open and count them. The ballots remained in a sealed box between Election Day and the official tally, the board said.
Stocker, who will now serve his third four-year term as mayor, and Thomas joined other witnesses in supervising the opening of the ballots.
Council President Henry Franceschelli Sr. and Auditor Christina Bohl joined Stocker in taking oaths of office Friday, which were administered by Judge James R. Lanzo of municipal court.