Which Endorsement Is The Best?

Hard not to notice two long time office holders being denied endorsements Saturday by the Mahoning County Democratic Party.

Prosecutor Paul Gains and Engineer Dick Marsico each lost the party's bid, as precinct committee members selected Gains' challenger, City Prosecutor Jay Macejko and Pat Ginetti, respectively, to carry the party's standard in the March election.

It's hard to say if it is a changing of the guard because in the two other hotly contested party races, longtime Austintown Trustee David Ditzler, who was a one-time party chairman himself, received an endorsement for county commissioner as did Jerry Greene, a captain in the sheriff's department over former Youngstown police Chief Jimmy Hughes. Greene has received a blessing from current Sheriff Randall Wellington, whose reputation for honesty is unsurpassed with voters in the area.

I was not surprised by Macejko's showing, because Gains has received a ton of ill will in recent years thanks to some of his budgetary requests during a bad economy and some of the foibles of his office, which can not all be placed at his feet. Macejko has been aggressive about what he perceives Gains' record to be, and one thing that resonates with voters is crime.

I was a little surprised by Marsico's loss. Again, he was a target because of some budgetary decisions during a period of economic uncertainty, but he has been a stalwart for almost 16 years and seemed to be someone who was always on the good side of people, in contrast to the sometimes bombastic Gains. And who would want to be engineer? It has to be a mostly thankless job because of the constant complaining about the conditions of roads and bridges throughout the county.

Marsico did not wait long after the endorsement process, announcing Tuesday he would not run for reelection and saying the decision did have an impact on his decision. Not so Gains. As I wrote before, expect him to put up a fight and to tough it out until the bitter end. He's been counted out before and yet has always come out on top. To underestimate him, especially in any sort of setting where there is debate or argument, is a dangerous mistake to make.

How much difference will the endoresements make? A little, I think, but in the end the victors, especially in the sheriff's and prosecutor's raises, will probably be the candidates who can give more of their own endorsements -- as in endorsements on the back of checks contributed to their campaign.