YOUNGSTOWN — Mahoning County Sheriff Jerry Greene, a longtime Democrat, is switching parties and filed for reelection as a Republican.

“I feel my opinions more align with the Republican Party on a national and state level,” said Greene of Boardman, who successfully ran three times as a Democrat. “I have no ill will on a local level with the party. I still have many friends there. I don’t have any contempt for the party locally. They’ve been good to me.”

Greene was first elected sheriff in 2012 to succeed Democrat Randall Wellington, who held the job for 13 years. Ray T. Davis in 1976 was the last Republican to serve as Mahoning County sheriff.

Despite being a Democrat and consistently voting in that party’s primaries, Greene has enjoyed a good relationship with the county Republican Party. The party has been a sponsor at his golf fundraising outings, and Greene attends Republican dinners as well as Democratic events.

“It was time for me to make a switch because of my beliefs,” Greene said. “On a national level, the conservative movement of the Republican Party supports law enforcement a lot more than the left. That’s something that has bothered me for a long time on a national level.”

Greene said he has other issues with state and national Democrats but didn’t want to discuss “all the reasons I switched. It’s a personal decision I made. I discussed it with my family. I have no problem with the local party here. They’ve been very supportive of me.”

Wednesday is the filing deadline for candidates running in the March 19, 2024, primary to file nominating petitions.

The county Democratic Party isn’t seeking a candidate to challenge Greene, but if one files, it will support that person, said Chairman Chris Anderson.

“Jerry is an outstanding officeholder,” Anderson said. “It’s a shame to see him leave over disagreements with the national party. I understand that the party on a national level has made him not identify with Democrats. I don’t have any control over the party on the national level.”

Greene first told The Vindicator on July 17 that he was giving consideration to switching political parties, saying it would have no bearing on the job he’s done for the past 11 years as sheriff.

Tom McCabe, Mahoning County Republican Party chairman, said Greene, a friend of his since high school, had talked to him a few times about changing his party affiliation going back four years ago.

McCabe praised Greene for being an excellent sheriff and is pleased he is running as a Republican.

“It says a lot that we have one of the most respected sheriffs in the state coming over to the local party,” McCabe said. “We’re really happy that someone of his caliber has switched. It strengthens our ticket locally.”

McCabe said the party will have its largest slate of candidates since 1968. It won’t file a challenger to Engineer Patrick T. Ginnetti, possibly won’t have a candidate against Commissioner Anthony Traficanti and will wait until the write-in deadline for a challenger to state Rep. Lauren McNally.

“We’re going to have a strong slate of candidates,” McCabe said. “We’re really happy with where we’re at.”

While Mahoning remains a Democratic county, the political tide has turned in the past few years. Auditor Ralph Meacham is the only Republican elected to the executive branch. But the county’s representatives in the U.S. House and Ohio Senate are Republicans as well as one of the two state House members.

Also, some of the most competitive countywide races in decades occurred in the 2020 election when Republican Geno DiFabio lost by only 0.14% in the 2022 county commissioner race to incumbent Democrat Carol Rimedio-Righetti, who was elected to her fourth four-year term. DiFabio filed to run next year for the commissioner seat held by David Ditzler, a Democrat who is seeking reelection.

The county voted for every statewide Republican on the 2022 ballot. In 2020, Donald Trump was the first Republican presidential candidate to win Mahoning County in 48 years.