Incumbent state legislators have financial advantages over challengers | News, Sports, Vacancies

Incumbent state legislators representing the Mahoning Valley have raised significantly more money than their opponents, thanks in large part to political action committees and, in the case of the four incumbent Republicans, financial support from party fundraising groups and candidate committees.

During the pre-general reporting period, from April 20 to October 16, four Republican incumbents received between $34,137 and $101,068 in in-kind contributions from the Ohio Republican Party, the Republican Senate Campaign Committee (RSCC), and/or the Ohio House of Representatives. Republican Alliance.

State Sen. Al Cutrona, R-Canfield, who was appointed June 26 to the Ohio Senate District 33 seat after four years in the Ohio House of Representatives, received the largest in-kind contribution—$63,393—from the RSCC campaign Republican divisions in the Senate. , and the rest from the Ohio Republican Party’s State Candidate Fund. This included direct mail, digital advertising, radio and television advertising, and postage.

But Cutrona gave the RSCC $100,000 for campaign expenses.

MAHONING COUNTY

Cutrona will face Democrat Marty Hume of Youngstown in the 33rd Senate District race, which was not supposed to be on the ballot this year. Republican Michael Rulli of Salem resigned June 12, the day after he was elected to the 6th Congressional District seat. The winner will serve the remaining two years of Rulli’s term.

Cutrona was an active fundraiser during his four years in the state House of Representatives.

In addition to the $101,068 he received in in-kind contributions during that period, Cutrona raised $151,545, of which $56,850 was provided by PACs.

Cutrona spent $130,159 during the period. The $100,000 to RSCC was his largest expense.

Due to large carryovers from previous campaigns and filing periods, Cutrona’s campaign fund had $101,078 as of Oct. 16.

By comparison, Hume started with no money and raised $24,819 in the period leading up to the general filing (though his first contribution was on August 1), with the candidate’s contribution of $3,500 being his largest contribution. Hume’s $25,000 in loans to his campaign was more money than he received from donors. Hume also donated $3,250 in-kind to his yard sign campaign.

During that period, Hume spent $42,681, of which $25,184 went on local television and cable advertising.

As of Oct. 16, his fund had $7,138.

The 33rd District includes all of Mahoning, Columbiana and Carroll counties and favors Republicans by about 9.5%, based on statewide partisan voting trends over the past decade.

With Cutrona’s seat open, Republicans appointed Tex Fisher to the position on June 26.

Fischer, who is running for the 59th Ohio House District seat in the Nov. 5 election, has raised $140,139 during the campaign period, with $78,000 coming from committees of Republican lawmakers and $27,400 from PACs.

Fischer’s largest contributions were $15,500 each from the committees of Senate President Matt Huffman (R-Lima) and House Speaker Jason Stevens (R-Kitts Hill). Huffman and Stevens are both running for speaker in the next House session.

Fischer’s campaign also received $90,600 in-kind from the Ohio House Republican Alliance, the campaign arm of House Republicans, for video, photography, polling, research, digital advertising, media production, text messaging and legal fees. The Mahoning County Board of Elections held a hearing to determine Fischer’s eligibility, which ended in a 2-2 tie with Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, a Republican, ruling in Fischer’s favor. Legal costs amounted to $7,500.

As of October 16, Fisher had spent $32,874, with his largest expenses being iHeart Media’s $10,032 in radio advertising and OHRA’s $10,000 in caucus contributions.

As of Oct. 16, Fischer’s campaign fund had $107,264.

Laura Schaeffer of Beloit, his Democratic challenger, raised $56,861 between April 20 and Oct. 16, with $23,000 coming from the PAC and $3,000 from The Matriots, a Columbus group that supports women candidates.

During that period, it spent $50,335, of which $10,000 went to Atlanta, Georgia-based Nexstar on streaming video advertising and $10,000 to Youngstown-based Blue Phoenix Strategies on political consulting.

Including previous rollovers, Schaeffer had $30,931 in her campaign fund as of Oct. 16.

The 59th District includes parts of Mahoning County and two townships in Columbia County. In party-line voting, he favors Republicans by 12%.

State Representative Lauren McNally of Youngstown—the only Democrat in the Valley’s legislative delegation—raised $80,143 in the pre-general period, with $54,000 coming from PACs and $6,360 from committees of Democratic lawmakers in her bid to represent the 59th House District .

During that period, McNally spent $51,512, including $20,408 for the Ohio Democratic Party on campaign postage and $7,677 to Youngstown-based Event Management LLC for printing and mailing campaign materials and video and audio products.

As of Oct. 16, McNally’s campaign fund had $74,060 remaining. This amount includes the balance from her previous campaign and application periods.

Her Republican opponent, Emily Ciccone of Austintown, did not file.

The 58th District includes parts of Mahoning County and votes favor Democrats by more than 21%.