Provisionals unlikely to change Struthers mayor or Youngstown 1st Ward outcomes

YOUNGSTOWN

There aren’t enough provisional ballots to change the outcome of the Struthers mayoral Democratic race, and it’s highly unlikely those uncounted votes will impact Youngstown’s 1st Ward primary.

In Tuesday’s Struthers mayoral primary, Danny Thomas Jr., a former city council president, beat Ronald Carcelli, a school board member, by 50 votes – 1,019 to 969, according to final but unofficial results.

There are only 17 provisional ballots to be counted in Struthers, so when the Mahoning County Board of Elections certifies the primary results, Thomas will be declared the winner.

“I’m happy we can finally put this election to bed and move onto November,” Thomas said.

Three independent candidates have filed to run for Struthers mayor. The elections board needs to certify they have enough valid signatures on their nominating petitions before they can be placed on the November general election ballot.

In Youngstown’s 1st Ward city council Democratic primary, Julius T. Oliver beat Mike Write by only nine votes – 276 to 267, according to final but unofficial results. Jose A. Rivera, a third candidate in that race, received 78 votes.

There are 13 provisional ballots to be counted. Nearly all of those ballots would have to be deemed valid and be votes for Write for him to win.

“I’m hopeful,” Write said. “We’ll see what happens and then we’ll go from there.”

Read more about election outcomes in Thursday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.