18 Dem precinct committee members being removed for switching to GOP

YOUNGSTOWN

The Mahoning County Democratic Party will remove 18 of its precinct committee members for voting Republican in the last primary.

Because they voted Republican, the 18 “are no longer part of the Democratic Party” and will be kicked off the central committee shortly, said Chairman David Betras.

“It’s a pretty hefty number of” precinct committee members who switched, he said. “It’s a lot of people. They’re disqualified as committee members because they’re no longer part of the Democratic Party. To be a Democratic precinct committee person, you have to be a Democrat.”

The main reason for the Democratic defections, Betras said, was to vote for or against Donald Trump, the Republican presidential front-runner.

Trump won Mahoning County by 13 percentage points but lost the state by 11 percentage points to Ohio Gov. John Kasich. Ohio is the only state Kasich has won in the Republican presidential election.

“It could be nothing else but the Trump factor,” Betras said. “Am I shocked Democrats voted for Donald Trump? No. I’ll be the first to admit the Donald Trump message resonates in the Mahoning Valley.”

There currently are 242 Democratic committee members, said Joyce Kale-Pesta, the party’s vice chairwoman and secretary.

The 18 being removed are equal to 7.4 percent of all Democratic precinct committee members in the heavily Democratic county.

Read more about the situation in Saturday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.