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Thomas shows political chops in mayor’s race
On the side
Accolades for Mike Ray: The Ohio Democratic Party specifically recognized Youngstown Councilman Mike Ray, D-4th, who won his primary with 83.7 percent of the vote, in an email touting officeholders advancing to the general election.
Among the seven Democratic primary winners for seats on Youngstown City Council, Ray is the only one without a general-election opponent — assuming independent candidates who filed in the six other wards are certified to the ballot.
Why was Ray, who faced a weak opponent, singled out? He’s part of the Ohio Democrats’ Main Street Initiative that “identifies rising stars in the party and provides them with training, resources, tools and direct support to run successful campaigns,” according to the email.
Ray said he applied and was chosen to be part of the initiative, developed under state party Chairman David Pepper.
Danny Thomas Jr. is a political consultant — and a very good one.
His Democratic primary election victory for Struthers mayor against Ronald Carcelli proved that.
Carcelli spent more than a year planning to run for mayor. Thomas decided to run after reading my Jan. 16 column about the candidacies of Carcelli and another potential mayoral candidate who didn’t file.
Before going further, one dynamic that was in play was both candidates’ criminal pasts. How much of an impact it had is difficult to gauge.
Thomas was convicted in 1987 by the feds of selling cocaine over the phone. He got his record sealed by a Mahoning County judge in 1998 and a presidential pardon a year later.
Carcelli, in his capacity as city street foreman, was convicted in 2005 of having an unlawful interest in a public contract. He was accused of taking about $5,000 in bribes and improperly billing the city for about $8,000 in unused asphalt. A county judge sealed his record in 2012.
For a while it looked like Carcelli would easily win Tuesday’s primary.
Carcelli has done very well in Struthers school board races and his last name is known in the city.
Thomas has had success in prior elections for 1st Ward council and council president, but hadn’t run since 2003. That year, he lost the general election race for his council president seat to Robert Carcelli Jr., Ronald’s estranged brother.
Carcelli had significantly more yard signs than Thomas and had more people working the polls than his opponent. There’s a political saying that “signs don’t vote,” and that was the case here.
Carcelli also focused on early voters. He turned in 600 of the 1,000 absentee requests the county board of elections received during the first week of early voting.
One huge mistake for Carcelli was he raised only $300 between July 1, 2014, and April 15. He raised $11,098 during the first half of 2014 and had $6,637 left over from his 2013 Struthers school board race.
I don’t know if Carcelli believed he already had enough money or he couldn’t raise anymore. I had two brief conversations during this campaign with him. Both times Carcelli falsely told me we’d speak in further detail. He never returned numerous calls, which was probably a good move as I wanted him to explain his criminal actions.
Thomas started raising money for his campaign on Jan. 27, and did well. Between that date and April 15, Thomas raised $17,280.
Party database
Knowing he’d lose the early vote, Thomas, using the skills he learned as a consultant, did two key things. He identified those likely to vote in the primary — and specifically vote for him — using a Democratic Party database, and he and his supporters went door-to-door talking with those voters.
When the early ballots were counted, Carcelli had a big lead, 426-253, 62.7 percent to 37.3 percent.
The lead wasn’t a surprise, but should have alarmed Carcelli. After turning in 600 absentee requests in the first week of early voting, and I assume considerably more in future weeks, he only received 426 early votes.
Tuesday’s voters
Those who voted at the polls Tuesday greatly outnumbered the absentees. Thomas captured 58.5 percent at the polls and won by 50 votes.
Three candidates filed to run as independents in the general election. For Thomas, the more candidates in the race, the better his chance of winning in November.