Local GOP looks to capitalize on wins

Republicans in Lorain County are on the rise, but the next step they face is much steeper. "There is no doubt that Ohio and Lorain County Republicans had a very successful year in 2020," David Arredondo, county GOP executive chairman, wrote Thursday in a message of welcome to a new crop of candidates for local office. "This year's candidate filings are further proof that our party is on the way up." Maybe. Without question the slate of GOP primary candidates for the four city councils with partisan elections in the county is impressive and potentially a boon to local democracy. When voters elect their representatives, they deserve more than one candidate to choose from. Enough Republicans are running that they could seize majorities in the general election on the Amherst and Elyria councils — Republicans already control North Ridgeville's — and end their utter shutout on Lorain City Council. What a difference from November 2019, especially in Elyria and Lorain, the county's biggest cities. Only three Republicans ran for the 11 seats in Elyria, and only one won. One Republican ran in Lorain and lost. Opportunity isn't the same as achievement, though. Donald Trump, whose coattails last year helped three GOP candidates for countywide office displace incumbent Democrats, is not on the ballot this year. In a strictly local election candidates must count on their own name recognition, and incumbents seeking reelection, nine of whom are Democrats in Elyria and 10 of whom are Democrats in Lorain, have an advantage. Just how closely tied the countywide Republican winners were to Trump's success — he flipped the county after narrowly losing it in 2016 — is apparent from their margins of victory. Trump, then the incumbent Republican president, defeated Democratic nominee Joe Biden by 2.44 percentage points in the county, despite losing both Elyria and Lorain. David Moore defeated incumbent Commissioner Sharon Sweda by 2.38 percentage points. Michelle Hung defeated incumbent Commissioner Lori Kokoski by 3.2 percentage points. And Mike Doran defeated incumbent Recorder Judy Nedwick by 0.52 percentage points. Moore's and Hung's victories gave the GOP a majority on the Board of Commissioners for the first time in decades, justifying Arredondo's boast about a very successful year. Yet subsequent events, particularly Trump's false narrative about widespread voter fraud supposedly costing him reelection and news about bizarre and dangerous ideas that U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Georgia, embraced, have given GOP candidates everywhere credibility issues to overcome. Local GOP officeholders and candidates have added to those issues, with Robert Gargasz, last year's failed candidate for county prosecutor, suspecting communists of lurking almost everywhere; Moore pontificating recently about "postjournalism," the absurd notion that the newspaper industry has substituted opinions for facts in order to inflame readers and get them to subscribe; and Kirsten Hill of Amherst, a member of the State Board of Education, protesting with others Jan. 6 in Washington, D.C., over "our concerns that there was significant voter fraud." Nothing wrong with protesting, as long as it's peaceful. It's a First Amendment right. The problem is her belief in misinformation. As Greene's track record shows, belief in misinformation, in conspiracies can lead to a florid case of looniness. A public official must be well-informed to make effective policy. One who can't figure out what's true or won't act on it is doomed to be ineffective or, worse, determined to be counterproductive. So if a local Republican campaigning door-to-door shows up on a porch this year, the voter who answers the bell should feel free to ask: "Mr. or Ms. X, what is your take on the presidential election of last year? Was Trump the victim of a massive fraud, or was Biden the legitimate winner?" No, the answer won't bear on issues confronting whatever city the candidate lives in, but the voter deserves to know whether the candidate is grounded in reality and worthy of serious consideration. Andy Young is editor emeritus of The Chronicle-Telegram. Contact him at (440) 329-7111 or ayoung@chroniclet.com.