This week鈥檚 election underscored some weaknesses for Ohio Democrats. The party鈥檚 candidates lost all of the statewide executive offices and gained seats but also lost some in the state House and Senate. This has left many wondering where Democrats in Ohio go from here.
When you look at the vote totals in northeast Ohio in 2010, you鈥檒l see the Mahoning Valley area was a solid Democratic area. But looking at the outcome in this election, it鈥檚 clear Democrats have lost ground there. And to Graig Graziosi, a reporter with the Youngstown Vindicator, the numbers were not shocking.
鈥淲e weren鈥檛 totally surprised to see that," Graziosi says.
Many voters and pundits said this election was a referendum on President Trump. And while his tough tone and unusual candor might turn off some Democratic voters, Graziosi says you have to remember that鈥檚 not the case so much in the Mahoning Valley.
鈥淎 lot of those Democrats were people who voted for Jim Traficant when he was here who, I don鈥檛 know if you remember Jim Traficant but that guy was just as blustery as Trump ever was so they respond well to that populous base," Graziosi says.
David Skolnick has been the Vindy Politics writer for years. He says it鈥檚 important to remember that not only has Youngstown itself become less Democratic in recent years but the counties around it have changed too.
鈥淐olumbiana County has gone from a purple county to an extremely red county," Skolnick says.
鈥淢ost of the people in my neck of the woods feel that they didn鈥檛 leave the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party left them," says David Betras, the chairman of the Mahoning County Democratic Party. He says Republicans and President Trump have tapped into issues people in his area鈥nd other parts of Ohio care about 鈥� jobs, economy, fair trade.
鈥淚 hate to say this but I鈥檓 sick of him winning. Ohio, I think, has become permanently red. Ohio is no longer a purple state. I mean if you look at the last 32 years, we鈥檝e only had the state government four years. What鈥檚 that tell you about our state? It鈥檚 red. It鈥檚 red," Betras says.
So what does Betras think the party can do to draw those voters back into its fold? 鈥淲ell that鈥檚 the $64,000 question. We may have permanently lost them. In other words, they don鈥檛 believe the Democrats have their back any more," Betras says.
Ohio Democratic Party Chairman David Pepper isn鈥檛 buying into that explanation. He says there are several things at play here. One, he says, is gerrymandering. That might have an impact on candidates for legislative seats but that鈥檚 not a factor for statewide candidates. Pepper says it also wasn鈥檛 a matter of the party not having a robust 鈥済et out the vote鈥� effort.
鈥淭hey hit the numbers. Rich Cordray hit the number over two million. No candidate has ever run for governor in Ohio as a Democrat and got two million and not been governor," Pepper notes.
Pepper says the rest of the statewide candidates also hit the numbers they鈥檇 need to win in a normal election. But he says this election was different.
鈥淭rump plays a uniquely effective role in Ohio," Pepper says.
But Pepper explains there are some reasons for Democrats to be happy. He notes, unlike some other states where Democratic U.S. Senators fell to Republican opponents, Sherrod Brown won re-election. And he adds the party had some victories at the Statehouse and on the local level, not to mention two new members on the Ohio Supreme Court. One of them even unseated a sitting justice. Pepper says Democratic leaders are pouring over the data from this election and will be talking about what needs to be done to bring Democrats back into the fold in future elections. And he thinks that will happen.
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