How Donald Trump Impacts Local Summit County Politics

If you follow politics at all, or even watch one of the various “Late Shows,” you know that presidential candidate Donald Trump has called for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the country and said that he would impose such an order if he was President. With most candidates, and the condemnations he has received, it would signal the end of his campaign. But not The Donald. His poll numbers actually increased after his statements.

Like many of the other Republican candidates, you may swear that Donald Trump will never be the Republican nominee for president. I wouldn’t be so sure of that. Keep in mind that all of “the other” Republican candidates who say he will never be the nominee, don’t seem to be willing to drop out of the race. This prevents establishment candidates like Marco Rubio from getting the poll numbers to challenge Mr. Trump. Then, even if he isn’t the Republican nominee, there of course is the chance he would run as an Independent.

So, how does all of that effect Summit County Politics? Currently the Summit County Council is comprised of four Democrats and one Republican. The one Republican, Tal Adair, took over for long-time council member Dave Ure last month. Four of the five seats, including Mr Adair’s, are up for election in November 2016. If Donald Trump is on the presidential ticket, who is going to show up in droves to vote against The Donald? I can envision on a cold snowy day next November that almost every Democrat and Independent in Summit County shows up to vote against Trump. When they do that, many will most likely vote Democrat in local elections as well, including the Summit County Council elections.

So, if Donald Trump is on the ballot, turnout will be high and it won’t favor Republicans in Summit County. Also, keep in mind that former,beloved Council Member Dave Ure only won by 4% over Democrat Sean Wharton (52% to 48%) in the last election. In the election before that, I believe it was even closer.

This could be a bad cycle to be a Republican. And I predict that if Trump is on the ballot, our County Council will have 5 D’s in front of their names come January.