The Repository

GOP delegates from Stark, Summit counties to attend Republican convention in Milwaukee

By Haley BeMiller and Robert Wang, Canton Repository,

10 days ago

Stark and Summit counties will be well represented when Ohio Republicans descend on Milwaukee this week to officially choose former President Donald Trump as their nominee for the November election.

At least 11 residents from the area are among the 79 Ohio delegates and 68 alternates to represent the Buckeye State at the Republican National Convention Monday through Thursday, according to a list provided by the Ohio Secretary of State's Office.

Delegates are people chosen to represent their state or community at nominating conventions and ultimately select the party's presidential candidate.

The names include top statewide officials, members of the state legislature, candidates and other key players in the Ohio GOP, from donors to county party leaders.

Delegate Kevin Coughlin, a former Summit County state senator running for Congress against Democratic incumbent Emilia Sykes, is attending his first GOP convention in 16 years.

The last time he attended was in St. Paul, Minnesota, before he took a break from politics in 2008. Coughlin said his first convention was in New Orleans in 1988.

"The issues they're going to hit (at the convention) are the issues the voters are telling them are more important right now: Securing the border. Making sure we have strong national security. Attacking the cost of living crisis and bringing down inflation and keeping our communities safe," the Bath Township resident said. "That’s what people are anxious about now. … Those issues will be ramped up and put center stage in primetime ... and set the tone for the campaign going forward.”

How delegates are chosen

The Trump campaign, its senior Ohio adviser Bob Paduchik and the Ohio Republican Party recruited the Ohio delegates and alternates. Trump's campaign submitted a slate of delegates to the Ohio Secretary of State's Office before the filing deadline in December.

The list, with state at-large delegates and delegates for each congressional district, has been modified as others have been recruited to fill in for those who could no longer serve.

The Ohio delegation has eagerly awaited to hear whether Trump would announce one of Ohio's senators, J.D. Vance, as his running mate, which would guarantee another Buckeye State attendee.

Three Ohioans also serve on the Republican National Committee, making them delegates by default: State party chair Alex Triantafilou, former U.S. Senate candidate and former Ohio Republican chairman Jane Timken of Jackson Township, and committeeman Jim Dicke.

'Going to be better than ever'

The 2020 Republican National Convention in Charlotte was mostly virtual due to the pandemic.

"We‘re back to having an in-person convention, and it’s going to be better than ever,” said Timken, who, as an RNC member, was in Milwaukee early for pre-convention meetings.

"The viewership will be incredible. It’ll be produced for television. It’s going to be like nothing anybody has ever seen," she said, adding that the convention will show the nation a "unified, energized Republican Party getting ready to win in November.”

Timken became a convention delegate once being appointed to a seat this year on the Republican National Committee. She was a delegate in 2020 by default because she was a state GOP chairman.

Timken said since her unsuccessful campaign for Senate ended in 2022, she has helped found and become president of Ohio Women Lead Right. Timken said the organization promotes issues important to Ohio women, like education, the economy and women in business.

Timken, a longtime prominent Republican donor, first served as a GOP delegate in 2012 to the Republican convention in Tampa. She attended the 2016 convention in Cleveland when Trump was first nominated for president, but she was not a delegate. Milwaukee is the third time, at least, she's served as a delegate.

Who are the other delegates?

Besides Timken, the other Stark County delegate is Stark County Commissioner Janet Weir Creighton of Jackson Township, who will be attending her sixth in-person GOP convention.

The Stark County Republican Party chairman and former Canton mayor was a delegate in 2020 . She was among those who took part remotely in 2020, and her last in-person convention was in 2016.

Three Stark County residents are alternates who could be called to fill in at the convention in Milwaukee in case any Ohio delegates from the 13th Congressional District are unable to serve. They are Curt Braden of North Canton, a former Stark County Republican chairman; along with David Lynn Arnold and Lisa J. Arnold of Jackson Township.

Braden has attended at least three GOP conventions as a delegate or alternate.

“It’s going to be a very, very exciting week, and I can’t wait to get there," said Braden, who took part in a conference call Tuesday evening with other Ohio delegates to discuss convention plans.

More: Stark delegates walking a diplomatic line with Trump campaign

The four from Summit County who are delegates besides Coughlin are former Akron Municipal Court Clerk Debbie Walsh of Akron; attorney Marshal Pitchford of Bath Township, the chairman of the board of Ohio Right to Life; J. Craig Brown, the president of Christian Healthcare Ministries in Barberton; and Kyle Pawuk of Bath Township, superintendent of American Trademark Construction Services.

An alternate from Summit County is Rachel Ruffer of Hudson.

New U.S. Rep. Mike Rulli, R-Salem Township, a Columbiana County resident who represents eastern Stark County in the 6th Congressional District, is also a delegate.

What's in store for the convention?

Braden anticipates that Trump in his convention speech "is going to give us his best and tell us where America’s going the next four years as opposed to where it's been, which has really been a terrible journey for the last four years.”

He noted that much of the party's business, including a committee approving the party platform, takes place during the convention.

But the party is not united on all issues.

The Trump campaign has pushed for a change to the party platform to remove any mention of a national ban on abortion early in pregnancy despite the objections of abortion opponents .

"You can’t agree on everything," Braden said. "But if you can agree on 70 to 80% of it, you’re there. ... Everybody's got a little different view. I get it.”

Coughlin said Ohio voters decided the abortion issue with their approval of Issue 1 last year.

"The voters weighted in," he said. ”We’re focused on the issues that people care about now and America’s future.”

Ohio's presence at the convention

The Ohio delegation is staying at the Abbey Resort, about a 70-minute drive southwest of Milwaukee. For several days, the Ohio delegates will have daily breakfasts at the hotel with speakers before being transported by bus to Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee.

Delegates and alternates have to cover their own travel costs, which can be thousands of dollars.

Gov. Mike DeWine and Lt. Gov. Jon Husted, both among the delegates, will host a welcome event Sunday night, said Ohio Republican Director of Communications Dan Lusheck. State legislative leaders will be hosting an event later in the week. Delegates are expected to attend after-parties once the convention speeches conclude.

As of the middle of last week, the Ohio delegation's position on the convention floor had not yet been announced.

Coughlin said he's not scheduled to speak at the convention. But he said he sees the multi-day event as a great opportunity to build in-person relationships with Republicans from around the country and connect with donors who might support his congressional campaign.

Lusheck acknowledged that Ohio, which Trump won in 2016 and 2020, is no longer considered a swing state in presidential elections. But the state will garner its fair share of attention at the convention and during the campaign because it's a battleground for the crucial Senate contest between Democratic U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, who's seeking re-election, and his Republican challenger Bernie Moreno, who is a GOP delegate.

“There’s so many side things that go on that contribute to the success of the convention,” Braden said. "There’s things going on all 18 hours a day besides what you see on TV.”

He recalled an after-party at the convention in Cleveland, where Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, a prominent Republican, played a guitar with a band and sang.

Drama-free nominations expected at RNC

Some Democrats have talked about nominating someone other than President Joe Biden as the party's nominee at their convention next month in Chicago.

Coughlin said the Republican convention won't have that level of drama.

"Generally, we don’t have unresolved conflicts that go to the convention floor anymore," he said. "The days of floor rights over nominees and running mates are in our past."

Other notable Ohio delegates include:

First lady Fran DeWine.
State Treasurer Robert Sprague, who along with Yost and Husted are eyeing a run for governor in 2026.
Cleveland real estate mogul James Kassouf, who was pardoned by Trump in 2020 − decades after Kassouf pleaded guilty to filing a false tax return.
Pastor Darrell Scott, head of the New Spirit Revival Center in Cleveland Heights. Scott is a longtime Trump ally and once described him as "the most pro-Black president I’ve seen in my lifetime," NBC News reported .
Mike Gonidakis, president of Ohio Right to Life.
Cowboy hat-wearing Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones , an outspoken and sometimes controversial critic of U.S. immigration policy.
Etna Township trustee Rozland McKee , who recently attracted criticism after locals saw an upside-down American flag being flown at her home. McKee said her husband hung it that way.

See the full list of delegates below:

Haley BeMiller is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio. She will be covering the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.

You can reach Robert at robert.wang@cntonrep.com. X formerly Twitter: @rwangREP.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: GOP delegates from Stark, Summit counties to attend Republican convention in Milwaukee