The Day Hanni’s Party Ended

As valley politicians and leaders fall all over themselves to honor Don Hanni Jr., I thought we’d take a little journey down memory lane. Stay tuned for my sure-to-be controversial Monday Vindy column. (Of course, it will be hard to top the thirty-four comments on my current post.)

In the meantime, enjoy this article from the Plain Dealer archives.

Plain Dealer, The (Cleveland, OH) – May 5, 1994
Title: Tossed Reformers Put End To Political Era
Author: THOMAS OTT
Mahoning County voters received a lesson in civics during the campaign, then turned around on Election Day and taught county Democratic Chairman Don L. Hanni a lesson in politics.

The reform-minded Mahoning Democrats for Change exploded Hanni’s political base Tuesday, with its candidates for precinct committeeman or woman apparently winning in about 275 of the county’s 409 precincts.

That would leave the 68-year-old Hanni, an iron-fisted, old-style political boss who has run the party for 16 years, far from the majority he would need to remain chairman when the Democrats reorganize later this month.

Hanni did not even win the race for committeeman in his downtown Youngstown precinct, losing 89-55 to Otis W. Connel Jr., an activities coordinator at apartment buildings for the elderly.

“It was as if a huge weight was lifted off the shoulders of the community,” rebel leader Michael Morley said yesterday. Morley, a 37-year-old lawyer from suburban Boardman Township, said he will be a candidate for chairman.

Hanni’s opponents had pledged to put a term limit on the chairmanship and to scrap endorsements in primary elections, which they said had a chilling effect. They also promised to end political influence in government and clean up a community image they said had been soiled by Hanni.

Hanni, a lawyer and former Youngstown Municipal judge, apparently could still be a candidate for chairman. He hung up when called for comment yesterday.

Hanni had presented himself as unvarnished, the other side as hypocrites with political aims. He refused to apologize for dealing bluntly with Democrats on the state and federal levels, saying he was trying only to gain favor for the
county.

Democrats for Change, hoping to capitalize on perceived voter disgust with machine politics, combined neighborhood appeals and electronic media advertising. The campaign, which Morley said cost $80,000 to $90,000, emphasized to voters that their precinct representatives determine who leads the party.

Dr. William Binning, chairman of the Youngstown State University political science department and former head of the county’s negligible Republican Party, termed the election a “brilliant” triumph of modern campaign techniques over Hanni’s fliers and lawn signs. He said some last-minute advertising by the Hanni camp came too late.

A poll that Binning had taken for the Youngstown Vindicator the week before the election had indicated Hanni was in trouble. Of 300 Democrats surveyed, 55% said they would prefer Morley as chairman; 17% chose Hanni. The poll also allowed respondents to pick “someone else.”

In the comments below, please name your vote for who is more worthy of being laid in state in the courthouse rotunda than Don Hanni.

UPDATE 7/21: Here is Bob Fitzer’s 1994 Speed of Sound commentary.
And my article was published this afternoon.

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