Eric Jones

Louis Lyras

Only two of the four responded to multiple requests for an interview — Eric S. Jones of Austintown and Louis G. Lyras of Campbell. The other two candidates who will be on the ballot on May 3 are Martin Alexander of Boardman and Shawna Roberts of Belmont.

The new 6th Congressional District includes all of Jefferson, Harrison, Columbiana, Carroll, Belmont, Mahoning, Monroe, Noble and Washington counties and portions of Stark and Tuscarawas counties. Mahoning is the district’s most-populous county.

Eric S. Jones

Jones is running on a platform which is about putting the middle class first.

While larger companies like Amazon reportedly did not pay taxes in the last three or four years, Jones said people are working like crazy and paying additional taxes because of it. He supports making only the first 40 hours someone works taxable and allowing the extra money people make working additional hours be tax free.

“Folks like my dad working 50 hours per week, they get put into a new tax bracket,” Jones said. “We need to reward hard work in this country.”

He also would like to see no double taxes on Social Security. He points out working people paid taxes on their money the first time, when they earned it, and questions why additional taxes should be paid after retirement.

Additionally, he would change programs such as the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset, which cuts into the amount of Social Security retirees receive if they worked for the state or local government. Jones said public servants like teachers, police officers and firefighters and their spouses should not lose their benefits that they earned.

Jones also would like to see student loans paid back only at the amount of the loan without interest. He believes the with the majority of students taking out federal loans, the federal government should forgive the interest on those loans. Jones said that plan would put money back into the pockets of the recent graduates and allow them to begin purchasing a house earlier and spending more money, which helps the economy. Jones said a college education should not just be an investment for the student, but a public investment in the future.

If he was elected to Congress, Jones proposes creating term limits and prohibiting members from investing in stocks. He would not eliminate investments in bonds because he said that still encourages elected officials to do their best for the whole of the economy. Additionally, he would ban congress members from later serving as lobbyists for special interests.

Jones does not believe trickle-down economics works, stating just because the boss gets a tax break it does not convince the boss to share the money. Instead, he believes tax cuts should go toward the middle class, who will spend the money.

Finally he would like to see more investment in green energy in Ohio, allowing the U.S. to compete with China and Germany, both of which are investing heavily in the green energy technologies. As an example, Jones refers to investments by China in new, safer nuclear technology. He would like to see a push for green energy and other products to be made in America, noting American experts can outcompete the rest of the world.

“I’m not a career politician,” Jones said. “I’m a regular guy running for regular people. I don’t care if you are a Republican, independent or Democrat, I’m trying to lift all Americans up.”

Jones, who majored as an undergrad in history and political science and earned a master’s degree from Youngstown State University in computer information systems, said he will take everyone’s concerns with him to Congress. Jones said he has Democrats and Republicans in his family and he is willing to reach across the aisle. He does not take the disagreements personally.

Louis G. Lyras

Lyras started a business painting bridges, factories and electric power plants on the Ohio River and is the co-owner of the Penguin City Beer Co. For his platform he presents a list of what he calls “kitchen issues” which he believes makes sense for the people in the district.

In his years as a business man, Lyras said he has worked with union employees, changed his industry with new technology and safety measures and traveled to other industrialized countries like China.

He wants to see the American tax dollars going back to the city centers, bringing people and companies into the downtown instead of watching them migrate outside of it.

“I’ve always been a proponent that we can’t let the major cities die and we can’t let beautiful farmland become developments while the cities fall to blight,” Lyras said.

Additionally, he favors schools offering more courses in civics, basic accounting and the trades. He questions the push for schools building new high schools when he believes so many of them need to be consolidated with other schools. That way instead of several schools graduating only 30 people, the larger school could offer students more including classes in the trades.

Lyras also would like to see consolidation of county and city services, combining tax dollars for larger police and fire departments that cover several towns in the same region or county.

Lyras said he is concerned about the recent rise in inflation, but feels it is important that we do not try to cure inflation by dropping down the wages of the employees. Instead, he supports lowering of the costs of goods and services by government and corporations.

At 71 and in good health, Lyras said he believes he has the business skills and life experiences to beat someone like Johnson in the November election. Lyras said he would be in favor of term limits with three or four terms for the House and no more than three terms in the Senate.

“I’m not doing this because I am going to retire on this,” Lyras said, adding it will cost him more than he will make. “I sincerely feel that I need to give back.”

He supports women’s rights to choose, the idea that gender cannot be defined as only a male or female and the rights of workers to unionize.

Although in 2018 he fell short of the required signatures to run as an independent and the last time he ran for the position he ran as a Republican, Lyras said he did not like what happened in 2020, and especially on Jan. 6, and has decided to run now as a Democrat.

“I was always this way,” Lyras said, adding he likes that as a Democrat he is free to express all of his views. “I feel the fiscal things matter. We have to make things going forward.”

He would like to see energy independence in the county involving more than just developing or using more fossil fuels, including nuclear, wind, solar and new technologies in electric vehicles.

Lyras said legislators need to realize things are too partisan now and they should work together and compromise when they can.

The winner Tuesday will face the winner of the Republican primary in November.