DE SOUZA: Trump roils Valley politics

Republican Donald Trump’s vote totals in Tuesday’s presidential primary in Mahoning and Trumbull counties could spell trouble in November for the Democratic Party.

That’s because Trump, the billionaire real-estate developer from New York City, attracted Democratic and Independent voters in numbers not seen since the Reagan revolution.

Although he did not carry Ohio, Trump continues to give the GOP establishment sleepless nights. He received 17,139 votes in Mahoning and 14,813 in Trumbull, both predominantly Democratic counties.

In Columbiana County, which leans Republican, Trump garnered 8,823 votes. The significance is that GOP heavyweights led the campaign in the Mahoning Valley for Ohio’s Republican governor, John Kasich.

Statewide, Kasich breathed new life into his presidential campaign by winning the state and its 66 delegates.

But he was unable to replicate his landslide victory of two years ago when he sought re-election. Then, he even carried the heavily Democratic Mahoning County.

On Tuesday, he was unable to overcome Trump’s populist, xenophobic message in the Mahoning Valley.

To put in perspective what Trump accomplished in this region, consider the votes cast in the 2012 presidential primaries. In the six-candidate Republican contest in Mahoning County, Mitt Romney, who ultimately became the party’s standard-bearer against Democratic President Barack Obama, received 5,597 votes; in Trumbull County, Romney garnered 5,473; in Columbiana County, he received 2,995 votes. Rick Santorum was the top vote-getter in Columbiana County with 4,628 votes.

There are other numbers from Tuesday night’s election that give credence to the argument that Trump is unstoppable. He is changing the face of the Republican Party.

Consider what occurred in the Mahoning Valley Tuesday: The total Republican vote cast in Mahoning Valley was 34,503 compared with 15,278 in 2012; in Trumbull County, 28,472, compared with 15,329 four years ago; in Columbiana County, 19,159 votes were recorded Tuesday, compared with 10,929 in 2012.