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Sen. Joe Schiavoni, D-Boardman, announced Wednesday that he is running for governor.(Photo: Provided)

COLUMBUS - The Ohio Senate's top Democrat, Joe Schiavoni, became the first in his party officially to announce a bid for governor Wednesday.

The announcement from the Youngstown-area Democrat comes one day after a higher-profile Mahoning Valley Democrat, U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, said he wouldn't run. Schiavoni likely will have company in the race; Democrats have a wide field of possible contenders.

Here's what Schiavoni brings to the governor's race and what he would have to overcome to win.

1. Schiavoniwho?

The 37-year-old lawmaker and attorney was first appointed to the Ohio Senate in 2008 and has led Democrats there since 2013. Currently, that means overseeing nine members, including himself, in a 33-member chamber. Democrats have little power in the Ohio Senate, so Schiavoni (pronounced shuh-VOHN'-ee) has little opportunity to improve his poor name recognition.

Schiavoni is well-known in the Youngstown area, where he was the chief opponent of Gov. John Kasich's plan to take control of failing area schools. He also championed speedier notification of residents when their water has high lead levels a problem in Sebring. While those causes gained him support close to home, they did little to garner statewide attention.

2. All about the Benjamins

While GOP hopefuls like Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine and Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted stash millions in their campaign accounts, Schiavoni has a measly$39,400 on hand.

That figure is low, in part, because he donated $180,000 last year to Senate Democrats and thousands more to the campaigns of Democrats up and down the 2016 ticket. And donors know that Democrats don't control the Ohio Senate, so they're less likely to give Schiavoni money.In contrast, Senate President Larry Obhof,a Republican, has$131,200 on hand.

A key for any Democratic candidate will be proving you can raise money, but Schiavoni's fundraising prowess, or lack thereof, is untested.

3. He's not the party's top pick

Many Democratic faithful would prefer someone else top the party's ticket, rather than Schiavoni, who has never run a statewide race. Take former Congresswoman Betty Sutton, of Summit County, who said she'll make a decision on the governor's race next week. Or former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray, who is directing the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

"I am not a career politician, and I'm not going to be the anointed candidate. But I am a fighter, the fighter that Ohio needs," Schiavoni said in a statement Wednesday morning.

1. Do the hustle

Schiavoni has been hustling across Ohio to meet with Democrats from Cleveland to Columbus.

"I will work harder than anyone, visit every part of the stateand meet with every Ohioan I can until I win," he said. That should help with his name recognition and his fundraising.

2. Popular in Trump Country

President Donald Trump won parts of Ohio that Democrats considered safe for years. Trump nearly defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton in Youngstown's Mahoning County and did beat her in all surrounding Ohio counties. As a candidate, Trump visited Youngstown multiple times to appeal to the white, working-class votersthere.

Democrats need to reclaim that area to win the governor's race in 2018, and Schiavoni knows those voters well. He won the Mahoning Valley district with56.7 percent of the vote in 2010 and ran uncontestedin 2014.

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And the first Democrat running for governor is... - Cincinnati.com

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Democratic Response to Trump's Speech: Video and Transcript - New York Times

President Donald Trump deliveredhis first address to a joint session of Congress Thursday night, and during the address he discussed various policy issues such as defense spending, his promisedwall on the United States border with Mexico, and the repeal of Obamacare. But the standout moment of his speech was his tribute to one of his guests in attendance, the widow of U.S. Navy SEAL, Senior Chief William Ryan Owens, who was killed in January during a U.S. raid conducted in Yemen.

We are blessed to be joined tonight by Carryn Owens, the widow of a U.S. Navy special operator, Senior Chief William Ryan Owens. Ryan died as he lived: a warrior, and a hero battling against terrorism and securing our nation, Trump said. Ryans legacy is etched into eternity. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle rose to their feet, giving Owens a standing ovation for several minutes.

But cameras captured top Democrat Reps. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.),Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) staying firmly seated, seemingly emotionless, and refusing to clap for Owens.

Though it cannot be concluded from the short clip if they clapped at any point during the tribute, those who werein attendance, including Independent Journal Reviews Chief Content Officer Benny Johnson, alleged that the while the trio clapped during Owens intro, they did not clap at all during the 2 minute standing ovation.

The offices of the three Democrats did not immediately return a request for comment.

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Meet the Democrats who refused to stand and applaud the widow of a fallen Navy SEAL - TheBlaze.com

Rep. Richard E. Neal of Massachusetts aims to counter conservative priorities of President Donald Trump, while seeking a few shared trophies as the new top Democrat on the Ways and Means Committee.

An institutionalist whos finally ascended to his partys ranking seat on a committee after 28 years in the House, Neal turned 68 earlier this month and is in his 15th term representing Springfield and far western Massachusetts. Hes considered a Democrat whom business can work with and who wants to make a case to working-class voters who abandoned the party last November.

He saidhes going to bring a different approach to Ways and Means than his predecessor, the progressive Sander M. Levin of Michigan.

I was the change, said Neal, who emphasizes pro-growth and aspiration as important themes for the Democrats.

Neal showed some signs of disgruntlement with the Democratic power structure in the House late last year when he signed a letter calling for a delay in party leadership elections. But it didnt cost him when, just before House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosis face-off against upstart Tim Ryan of Ohio, Levin, a Pelosi ally, withdrew as Ways and Means ranking member.

Neals friend, Georgia Democratic Rep. John Lewis, had the seniority edge but didnt want the job. Neal was next in line and got the nod as expected.

Democrats adhered to seniority rules in 2010, too, when Neal narrowly lost out to Levin in a race to be the panels chairman after New York Democrat Charles B. Rangel stepped aside.

This time around, Neal had an ally in Ryan, who saidNeals working-class message will be an important addition at the leadership table and help Democrats win back heartland voters: Springfield looks a lot like Youngstown. The guy understands.

While Neal vows to oppose GOP efforts to uproot the 2010 health care lawand enact a partisan tax rewrite, he said he wants to exchange ideas and cut deals on more modest measures.

I hope that we can stay in the game as long as possible on tax reform,Neal said.

He has called for a package of middle-class tax cuts as a Democratic alternative to a GOP tax overhaul. Rather than cutting taxes for people at the top, that tax cut ought to be expanded considerably for people in the middle, Neal said.

He aims to develop a plan that is revenue-neutral based on traditional, or static, scoring, similar to a 2014 blueprint by then-Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp. The Michigan Republican consulted Democrats on his plan, but House GOP leaders sank it. Now, they seek more ambitious tax cuts that would be revenue-neutral based on macroeconomic, or dynamic, scoring that factors in economic growth spurred by cuts.

The jumping-off point for me, probably, is that it goes well beyond anything that Camp proposed, Neal said of the House GOP tax plan.

In addition to middle-class tax cuts, he has also signaled support for a number of incentives for business and for economic development such as enterprise zones, tax-exempt municipal bonds and the historic preservation tax credit.

Neal confirmed he would hold a series of regular one-on-one meetings with the Texas Republican who chairs Ways and Means, Kevin Brady, to discuss issues and shared interests.

Brady said the two were going to look for common ground.

He understands the innovation industry, and he knows America is no longer competitive around the world in the tax area, Brady said.

Unlike Levin, Neal has sometimes bucked his partys liberal wing, as when he backed a plan to replace the Labor Departments fiduciary standard on investment advice to ease mandates on businesses like his hometown constituent, Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company. Trump has now moved to reverse the rule.

In 2015, Neal broke ranks when party leaders opposed permanent tax breaks without offsets in the 2016 omnibus spending law. Neal said he voted aye because hed helped write sections of the bill. He worked on a number of items including a streamlining of partnership audit requirements.

Neals independent streak and negotiating skills resonate with political donors. He ended the 2016 cycle with $3 million in campaign cash and $860,000 in reserve for his political action committee, with ample backing from the insurance, securities and pharmaceutical industries, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Neal predicts the GOPs unitary government will face intraparty disputes that will make it easier for Democrats to fight proposals to repeal expanded Medicaid benefits and the individual health care coverage mandate.

One of the realities of politics remains that you can carp about who is receiving the benefit for whatever reason. Whats hard to do is to take the benefit away, he said.

In addition to such battles, Neal has his eye on less controversial measures such as upgrades to health care exchanges, which he compares to bipartisan tweaks Congress has made to President George W. Bushs Medicare drug benefit.

While opposing the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, Neal envisions a pivot to Europe and to the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership talks and other deals.

You are likely to move in the direction of more bilaterals, as was the case with Peru or Panama, where you can enforce trade agreements, he said.

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New Ways and Means Ranking Democrat Looks for Bipartisanship in Tax Overhaul - Roll Call

March 1, 2017, 1:25 pm

On my scorecard the Donald hit a home run last night. He covered the waterfront without any of his all-too-frequent imprecisions that make it easier for the left scorpions to paint him as a limb of Satan, and for conservatives to defend him. He may not have been pitch-perfect. But he was damned close. The boffo performance cleared the hall of Democrats in record time after the speech. (If you were a Democrat, would you have wanted to hang around after that?) It led to much moaning and gnashing of teeth on CNN and PMSNBC. No reports yet on what, if anything, went up Chris Matthews leg.

Give the Democrats some credit. They were nimble enough to choose someone whos not going to be running for office again to give the Democratic response to Trumps tour de force. A truly unenviable assignment. (The equivalent military assignment would be guarding a dog house in the Aleutians in January.) I only listened to the first half of what former Kentucky governor Steve Beshear had to say. It sounded like he had found a copy of a campaign speech Hillary Clinton had delivered in August and was reading it off the teleprompter. Adding incoherence to irrelevance, at one point Beshear said, Im a proud Democrat, but first and foremost, Im a proud Republican and Democrat, and mostly American. The only sensible reaction to this is, Huh? Trump soared. Beshear clanked.

Some of the usual suspects didnt stop at irrelevance and incoherence. They went on to disrespect war widow Carryn Owens, whose late husband, Navy SEAL Senior Chief Ryan Owens, died defending America, including Americans who could not be bothered to clap or stand while she was being honored. How low can you go? Debbie Wasserman Schultz, former DNC chairwomanperson, and current DNC co-chair Keith Ellison did not clap or get off their sorry backsides when the rest of the hall was honoring a widow who had lost so much, and an American warrior and hero who had given all.This behavior is, to use one of Hillary Clintons favorite adjectives, deplorable. (My own choice of adjective is despicable.) I hope and trust it will be seen as such in most precincts outside of the five boroughs, California, and university towns.

If national Democrats are circling the drain I believe they are much of the damage has been self-inflicted. Perhaps the only thing they can rely on now to save the remaining examples of them is the Endangered Species Act.

In a related and less important matter, my sources tell me that Willie Nelson tuned in the speech last night. But he didnt linger long after he learned what a joint address means.

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An Endangered Species: The Democrats Remain Seated - American Spectator