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Politics can be interesting

It seems that we just barely reach the conclusion of one election before the cycle starts all over again.

Ohio’s primary is set for May 2, and while there are open seats in Steubenville, there are no contested races in either party, which means most of the local attention already has shifted to the Nov. 7 General Election.

The most interesting battle will come in the race for city mayor. The battle became wide open on Jan. 19, when longtime Steubenville Mayor Domenick Mucci announced he would not seek re-election to the post he has held for six terms. Mucci made his decision known during a Jan. 18 meeting with members of the Herald-Star’s editorial board, and it’s a move that signaled the end of a 36-year career in public service for the local Democrat.

There’s no opposition on either party’s ticket, which means Republican Jerry Barilla and Democrat Frankie DiCarlantonio can begin working toward the fall. If no independent candidate files before the 4 p.m. May 1 deadline, it will be a two-person race.

While all residents of the city will get to choose the next mayor, two of the three ward races up for election this year will be contested. In the 2nd Ward, Republican incumbent Mike Johnson will be opposed by Democrat Craig Petrella. In the 6th Ward, meanwhile, incumbent Democrat Bob Villamagna will face a November challenge from Republican Sam Ivkovich.

Democrat Scott Dressel is unopposed in his bid to retain his 4th Ward seat. Again, that could change depending on the status of any potential independent challenger.

It’s good for the city to see that there are people interested enough in the future of the community that they will seek office, and that several of the seats up for election will have contested races in the fall. That, in turn, will make for an interesting campaign season in city politics.

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While Steubenville and other communities are gearing up for the 2017 elections, it’s not too early to be looking at 2018.

What likely will be one of the most watched races in the country could be for the Ohio Senate seat currently held by Democrat Sherrod Brown. Josh Mandel, who has served as the state’s treasurer since being elected in 2010, already has been preparing for a second run at Brown.

On Monday, Mandel’s campaign announced that it has lined up campaign chairs in each of Ohio’s 88 counties.

“With so much at stake, we aren’t wasting any time in our efforts to defeat Brown in 2018,” Mandel said is a news release. “Every day, we are working to build a strong and decisive grassroots army that is ready to fight for our values against the Washington elite. I am proud to stand alongside this passionate group of conservative activists as we work toward that goal.”

Leading the campaign in Jefferson County will be Steubenville’s Michael Hernon, the press release stated. Other area campaign chairs include James Thompson in Harrison County, Michelle Jackson in Belmont County, Jeff Mangun in Carroll County and David Johnson in Columbiana County.

Assuming that Mandel and Brown can get past any potential challengers in next year’s primaries, the fall of 2018 would see a rematch of the 2012 race that saw Brown defeat Mandel by a margin of 2,762,757 to 2,435,740.

It’s a seat Brown first won in the 2006 election when he defeated incumbent Republican Mike DeWine, who went on to win election as the state’s attorney general.

As expected, the enthusiasm Mandel and his campaign showed last week is not shared by the Democrats.

“Josh Mandel always has been more focused on campaigning for a new office than doing the job taxpayers paid him to do — that’s why he launched his first Senate bid just days after becoming treasurer six years ago, and why he spent all of last year raising money for his second Senate bid.

“It’s no surprise that he plans to spend all of 2017 campaigning — and it’s why Ohioans will always see Josh as a politician we just can’t trust,” Jake Strassberger, a spokesman for the Ohio Democratic Party, was quoted as saying in a release Monday, according to Andrew J. Tobias of Cleveland.com.

With control of the Senate critical for both parties, it’s a sure bet that there will be a lot of attention focused on Ohio next year.

For his part, Brown apparently is waiting a little longer to start his campaign. Mucci, a longtime friend and supporter of Brown, told me last week that he recently talked with the senator’s brother, Charlie Brown, and received no indication the campaign was ramping up.

“I’m not aware of anything,” Mucci said. “It would seem like it’s kind of early, but you never know.”

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And finally, we learned last week that Gov. John Kasich will deliver this year’s State of the State address at 7 p.m. April 4 at the Sandusky State Theater. It will be the sixth year in a row that Kasich has asked members of the General Assembly to hold the address outside of the Ohio Statehouse. The first time happened Feb. 7, 2012, when the governor delivered his message in the Steubenville High School auditorium.

Since then he’s presented the speech in Lima, Medina, Wilmington and Marietta.

(Gallabrese, a resident of Steubenville, is executive editor of the Herald-Star and The Weirton Daily Times.)

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