YOUNGSTOWN — Early in-person voting is under way in Mahoning County ahead of the Tuesday, Nov. 3 general election, and the biggest local question facing voters is Issue 4, a new-money levy for the Mahoning County Board of Developmental Disabilities that would be the agency’s first additional levy in 26 years.
Issue 4 is an additional 2.4-mill tax levy estimated to raise $15,522,964 a year, costing the owner of a $100,000 home about $84 a year, for five years beginning in 2026 with collections starting in 2027. The board serves more than 2,000 Mahoning County residents with developmental disabilities, and its officials say the agency has gone more than two and a half decades without asking voters for additional operating money, even as the cost of services has climbed.
Two countywide offices are contested. For county commissioner, Democrat Lauren McNally faces Republican Christine Oliver. For county auditor, Democrat Dalton Bosze faces Republican Ralph T. Meacham, in a race that will decide who keeps the county’s financial records for the next four years.
The judicial ballot is crowded. Common Pleas Judge Maureen A. Sweeney is unopposed, Mark P. D’Apolito faces Ross T. Smith for another general division seat, and four candidates — Ralph Rivera, J. Michael Thompson, Robert J. Andrews and Jeff Limbian — are running for a seat whose term begins July 1, 2027. Mark A. DeVicchio faces Terry A. Grenga for domestic relations judge, Robert N. Rusu Jr. is unopposed for probate judge, and the 7th District Court of Appeals ballot includes Molly K. Johnson and a contested race between Mark Anthony Hanni and Katherine Rudzik.
In district races, Republican U.S. Rep. Michael A. Rulli faces Democrat Elizabeth Kirtley in the 6th Congressional District, Republican state Sen. Al Cutrona faces Democrat Michael L. Kripchak in the 33rd District, and Democrat John A. Boccieri faces Republican Heather Fronk in the 58th Ohio House District. School and township questions vary across the county: Poland Local Schools is asking voters to renew a fixed-sum levy of $2,181,867 a year, averaging 3.57 mills and about $125 per $100,000 of value, and a separate 1-mill permanent improvements renewal estimated at $403,667 a year, while Poland Township voters outside the village decide a 2-mill road levy renewal and Canfield school voters face a 5.9-mill additional levy for current expenses.
Statewide, Mahoning County voters will help choose Ohio’s next governor between Republicans Vivek Ramaswamy and Robert A. McColley and Democrats Amy Acton and David Pepper, and decide the U.S. Senate race for an unexpired term between Republican Jon Husted and Democrat Sherrod Brown. Also on every Ohio ballot are races for attorney general, auditor, secretary of state and treasurer, two Ohio Supreme Court seats, and State Issue 3, a proposed constitutional amendment that would require voters to present photo identification in order to vote.
Early in-person voting continues at the Mahoning County Board of Elections, 345 Oak Hill Ave., Entrance A, in Youngstown, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays through Oct. 23, then 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 24; 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 26; 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 27, which is also the deadline to request an absentee ballot; 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Oct. 28 through 30; 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 31; and 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 1. Absentee ballots must be received by 7:30 p.m. on Election Day, when polls are open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., and in-person voters must show an accepted photo ID.
Photo: Dreajc10, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons