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Youngstown mayor raised a lot more money than his Democratic primary challenger — and lost
YOUNGSTOWN
Jamael Tito Brown, winner of the Democratic primary for Youngstown mayor, raised only 38 percent of the amount of campaign money collected by John A. McNally, the defeated incumbent.
Campaign finance reports show Brown raised $33,912 while McNally received $89,399 in contributions from Jan. 1, 2016, to this past June 2.
Brown, a former city council president and 3rd Ward councilman, beat McNally by 472 votes in the May 2 Democratic primary.
April 13 and June 2, the most recent filing period, was the most competitive for Brown compared to McNally. Brown raised $10,715 to $16,830 for McNally.
Of the amount Brown received during that time period, $2,150 came in after the May 2 primary with $2,000 of that amount from Mahoning County Democratic Party Chairman David Betras.
CAMPAIGN FINANCE Post-primary election reports
The party endorsed McNally in the primary.
Betras said Brown – who he now supports as the Democratic primary winner – called him after the primary asking for a contribution.
“I had $2,000 in a checking account so I wrote him a check,” Betras said.
As of June 2, Brown had $2,133 in his campaign fund so without the $2,150 that came in after the primary, he’d have a small deficit.
McNally had $19,046 in his campaign fund as of June 2.
“I give Tito 100 percent credit for being broke after the primary,” Betras said. “The idea is you spend your money [in a competitive primary], you win and go broke. Then you go back and raise more money” for the general election.
The two candidates faced each other in the 2013 Democratic primary with McNally raising about $104,000 to $41,000 for Brown. McNally won that primary by 142 votes.
Brown faces three independents in the Nov. 8 general election. They are former 6th Ward Councilwoman Janet Tarpley; Sean McKinney, a former city buildings and grounds commissioner; and Cecil Munroe, who’s unsuccessfully run for elected office before including a mayoral write-in bid four years ago.
In the Democratic primary for Youngstown Municipal Court judge, Carla Baldwin, a county juvenile court magistrate, won though she raised $50,232 compared to $64,030 for city Magistrate Anthony Sertick, the party’s endorsed candidate.
Baldwin beat Sertick by 1,420 votes in the primary.
Baldwin will face Mark Anthony Hanni, an independent candidate in the November general election.
The seat is being vacated by Judge Robert Milich, who couldn’t seek another term because of the state’s judicial age limit law.