Tribune Chronicle/Vindicator Editor Ed Puskas…by R. Michael Semple

We’re less than a month from Election Day and if you’re like me, Nov. 5 can’t get here fast enough.

That’s mostly because of the rancor surrounding the presidential election.

Former President Donald Trump or current Vice President Kamala Harris?

Are these two really the best we can do? That’s a question for another column on another day. Soon, though, to be sure.

How about incumbent Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Cleveland, vs. Republican Bernie Moreno? If you think that the matchup of Trump and J.D. Vance (another U.S. senator from Ohio) against Harris and her VP pick Tim Walz (the governor of Minnesota) has been a negative campaign, you probably should pay more attention to the Brown-Moreno battle.

The presidential race and the Ohio Senate race are the big ones in the Buckeye State. Here in the Mahoning Valley, our editorial board spent last week meeting with candidates for various offices in Trumbull and Mahoning counties. Each candidate made his or her pitch to either keep their job or earn a new office. They fielded questions from our editorial board members and reporters.

Last week, we began publishing endorsement editorials. More will follow.

The candidates we met with — some in person, some via video conference and others by phone — treated these meetings like job interviews, because that’s essentially what they were. They were professional, well-spoken and prepared. I don’t recall any of them being flustered or surprised by questions. By now, of course, some of them have been campaigning for months or even years for these opportunities, so they came to us knowing the messages they wanted to deliver and shouldn’t have been surprised by much of anything we threw at them.

But I was surprised by something, although not from any of the candidates we met with this week. Of the 10 races — five in each of the two primary counties in our coverage areas — every single candidate was more than happy to sit down with the editorial board and tell us — and you — why they deserve our votes.

Well, almost all of them, anyway.

Republican Al Cutrona declined our invitation to sit for an endorsement interview in his race for the 33rd District Ohio Senate race against Democrat Marty Hume. David Skolnick, our political reporter, reached out to Cutrona, who politely declined.

I knew this even as I began contacting other candidates in these local races. But as I mentioned, the others all elected — pun intended — to make their cases with us. But the reality is that in participating in endorsement interviews with the local newspapers of record in the Mahoning Valley, they are making their case to you — the voters.

As the week progressed, it began to bother me that Cutrona had chosen not to participate.

I’ll admit to a certain level of obsessive-compulsive disorder.

For example, if I’m carrying cash, the bills must be in sequential order in my wallet and they must all be right side up and all facing the same way. The bigger bills — say $100 and $50 — are always at the back. And if you think I routinely have any of those, you’d be mistaken. My big bills are $10 and $5.

But I digress. The point was that I kept looking at our list of interviews and that one missing slot bothered me. So on the morning of Oct. 2, I texted Cutrona this message:

“Hi, Al. This is Ed Puskas, editor of the Tribune Chronicle and Vindicator. I got your number from David Skolnick. I thought I’d reach out as we’ve not met previously, and extend an invitation to meet with our editorial board in advance of our pre-election endorsements. Feel free to call me at this number or my office, 330-841-1786. Thanks and have a great day.”

Crickets.

More than a week later, I’m still waiting for a response. I can’t say that I’m surprised, given that Cutrona had already told Skolnick he would not do an endorsement interview.

Maybe we should start calling him “Kamala,” since neither one of them apparently enjoys taking questions. I should add that Cutrona also declined to complete and submit our candidate questionnaire in advance of a potential interview.

As you know, we endorsed Hume in the race for the 33rd, since Cutrona did not seek our endorsement. We couldn’t, in good conscience, endorse a candidate who doesn’t think enough of his electorate to talk to the editorial board of the papers of record in his district.

Since Cutrona was selected as the Republican candidate to replace Mike Rulli in the State Senate, he would have been interviewing with you — the voters — for a new job. But it seems he doesn’t believe he should have to do that.

I don’t agree, especially given his apparent support of the idea of banning certain books from public libraries. That alone gave me pause in considering his candidacy. Also of concern was Cutrona’s $20,000 payment to his fiancee’s consulting firm.

These things would certainly have come up in an interview, so again, I was not surprised he chose to pass. Disappointed, but not surprised.

Cutrona and outgoing State Rep. Mike Loychik (R-65th) rode Trump’s coattails into state office and both are self-styled mini-Trumps. Loychik also doesn’t like to speak to the media. His disdain for the press here is well known. But he also represented part of the coverage area for my previous employer in Ashtabula County. Our reporters there reached out to him numerous times and even connected once or twice. He promised to do an interview ahead of the March primary, but then never did.

It was no surprise when Loychik lost the 32nd district state Senate primary to fellow Republican Sandra O’Brien. That came after he switched horses in mid-race when it became apparent he had no chance to retain his 65th District state rep seat against David Thomas. Again, hardly a surprise, given that Loychik was mostly known for his cringe-worthy attempt to get Mosquito Lake renamed for Trump.

But as much as these candidates try to emulate Trump, they fall short in at least one key area. Aside, apparently, from agreeing to a “60 Minutes” interview, Trump doesn’t shy away from many interview requests. How many impromptu, 90-minute Q-and-A sessions did he give as president while walking from the White House to a helicopter? Half the country doesn’t like Trump, his attitude nor his policies, but he might be the most accessible politician in the country.

Love him or hate him, Trump made sure people knew what he had to say, whether they wanted to hear it or not.

Some politicians lack the confidence to put their views out there and let the voters decide their fate.

Those are candidates I simply can’t endorse at any level.

Ed Puskas is editor of the Tribune Chronicle and The Vindicator. Contact him at epuskas@tribtoday.com.