WARREN — Early voting is under way in Trumbull County, where the Nov. 3 general election ballot is topped locally by contested races for county commissioner and county auditor — the only two executive-branch county seats up this year — along with judgeships and a long list of township, school and fire district levy renewals. The Trumbull County Board of Elections, at 2947 Youngstown Road SE in Warren, is open for early in-person voting from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday this week.
The most contested county race is for county commissioner, where Republican Michael J. Hovis, a Bazetta Township trustee, faces Democrat Doug Sollitto. Hovis emerged from a Republican primary in which incumbent Commissioner Denny Malloy also sought re-election, in a county that was a Democratic stronghold for decades but has seen Republicans win every contested county race in the 2022 and 2024 elections. The winner joins the three-member board that sets the county budget and oversees county departments.
The auditor’s race is also contested, between Republican Mike Loychik, a former two-term state representative, and Democrat John Stredney. The auditor’s office appraises property and calculates the county’s taxes, and the campaign has featured debate over honesty and cooperation between the office and the county commissioners.
On the judicial ballot, Mary Ellen Ditchey is the Republican candidate for judge of the Court of Common Pleas’ general division, and Thomas A. Campbell is the Republican candidate for the court’s probate division; Campbell’s name is the only one on the November ballot for the probate seat. Two seats on the Eleventh District Court of Appeals, which reviews cases from Trumbull County’s trial courts, carry Republican candidates Marisa Cornachio and Robert J. Patton. Judicial candidates appear on the November ballot without party labels.
Local questions are dominated by levy renewals rather than new taxes. Braceville Township voters decide three separate 1-mill, five-year renewals — for fire and EMS protection, for police and EMS protection, and for road and bridge work — while the Newton Falls Joint Fire District seeks a 4-mill, five-year renewal for EMS and Gustavus Township a 2.8-mill fire and EMS renewal. Champion Township has a 1-mill police and EMS renewal, Farmington Township a 2.5-mill road renewal, and Greene Township a zoning referendum asking whether its zoning plan should be repealed. Cardinal Local School District voters decide a 9.7-mill, five-year renewal for current expenses.
Above the local races, Trumbull County voters will also help decide Ohio’s statewide contests — governor, attorney general, auditor, secretary of state and treasurer, two seats on the Ohio Supreme Court, the U.S. Senate race between Republican Jon Husted and Democrat Sherrod Brown, and statewide Issue 3, the proposed constitutional amendment that would require voters to present photo identification in order to vote. U.S. Rep. David Joyce, a Republican, is on the ballot in the 14th Congressional District, and State Rep. Nick Santucci is the Republican candidate in the 64th Ohio House District.
Early voting hours expand in the final week: 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 26, 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 27, and 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, Oct. 28 to 30, with weekend hours on Saturday, Oct. 24 and Saturday, Oct. 31, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and a final Sunday session on Nov. 1 from 1 to 5 p.m. Voters must bring an accepted photo ID, such as an Ohio driver’s license, a state ID card or a U.S. passport. On Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, polls will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., and voters can preview their own sample ballot through the board of elections lookup before voting.
Photo: Upstateherd, CC BY-SA 4.0