Hart

Johnson

Johnson, 64, has been on the state central committee since 1996 and is the senior ranking member. He has also been the Columbiana County Republican Party Chair since 1990.

He is running as a “tandem” with Allison Zwicker, of Canfield, who was appointed to replace Monica Robb Blasdel on the committee when she was elected as the 79th District state representative in 2022.

“We think alike, we are both conservatives, both strong Trump supporters,” he said during a March 1 interview.

Johnson is running on his experience and success in helping to elect Republicans to office at the local, state, and federal level.

“Today I’m proud of the fact that every office in Columbiana County is Republican,” Johnson said. “I have been very active in recruiting young and newer people to get involved and run for office.”

There is an ultra-conservative wing of the party who are challenging establishment candidates for not being conservative enough, calling Johnson names like RINO (Republican in name only).

“I think these people are dividers,” Johnson said. “And Allison and I are uniters.”

However, he credited Hart, 62, with running a clean campaign.

“It’s good to see people take an interest,” Johnson said. “He says he wants to see better quality candidates to run for office. That’s always a good aspiration.”

Johnson is viewed by Hart as an establishment candidate and he is looking to inject fresh blood to the committee and reinforce his idea of strong conservative ideals.

“We need strong conservatives that will stand for conservative ideals, not capitulate to the left at every turn,” Hart said during a March 15 interview.

He expressed frustration with the Republican Party, at the state and federal level, for compromising too much with the Democratic Party in order to win elections.

Gov. Mike DeWine’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic was seen by Hart as a bow to the political left.

“His stance of standing with every Democratic ideal early in the pandemic and the damage that was done in the state of Ohio to jobs and businesses, small businesses,” Hart said. “You leverage that against the true conservative leadership we saw with Florida Gov. (Ron) DeSantis, it’s night and day.”

Hart has not taken any campaign contributions and even paid for the signs he posted himself.

“I don’t want the appearance that I’m beholden to anyone,” Hart said.

Hart expressed frustration that the Republican State Central Committee helps campaign for certain candidates in the committee primary.

“That shouldn’t be happening in the primaries,” Hart said.

The committee no longer endorses or raises funds for candidates in the committee primary anymore, although it has in the past, Johnson said.

The Republican State Central Committee is essentially the ruling body of the state Republican Party that governs statewide campaigns and elections and also helps in fundraising and campaigning for U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives races.

“Anything that’s going on statewide in the state party, that’s what we do,” Johnson said.

David Johnson was born and raised in Salem and attended the College of Wooster for political science. He said he was always interested in politics, possibly because of the importance placed by his father on Walter Cronkite’s nightly CBS broadcasts.

“I grew up in a family that talked a lot about the issues of the day,” Johnson said. “When I was younger, I can remember everybody had to be silent when Walter Cronkite was on.”

Johnson retired in 1990 as CEO of Summitville Tiles Inc., his family’s company that was recently sold to General Shale of Johnson City, Tennessee, the largest brick manufacturer in the U.S.

“This company has been in our family for over a hundred years. It was a very difficult decision to sell, but with the global competition the way it is and the increasing regulations on manufacturing and mining, it is increasingly difficult for an independent family company to compete in this type of environment,” Johnson said.

Sean Hart was also born and raised in Salem and is a 1980 graduate of Salem High School. He joined the U.S. Navy for a six-year stint, focusing on nuclear power as an electrician’s mate on submarines.

One reason he joined during the Cold War was to be a “deterrent” to socialism.

“I don’t like socialism, it’s a failed system,” Hart said. “But we’re being pushed that direction by the Democrats.”

Hart worked for Summitville Tiles in Orlando and Houston for about 15 years, before moving back to Salem with his wife and children in 1998.

Hart has known Johnson since he was a kid.

“He took my sister to prom,” he said.

Hart served on the Salem City Schools Board of Education from 2003-2007, helping lay some “groundwork” financially for future projects like the ongoing construction of a new school.

“It may have been the best job that I ever disliked or the worst job I ever loved,” Hart said in a brain-twister fashion. “I found out real quick, you can’t please everybody. That’s fine too.”

Hart has worked for Beaver Valley Power Station in Shippingport, Pa. since 1999. He worked as an unlicensed nuclear reactor operator for eight years, before taking his Nuclear Regulatory Commission test to become licensed, and then giving up his license two years ago to become an instructor.

“The coolest job I ever had. I loved it,” Hart said.

The biggest tenant Hart follows as a nuclear operator is to “protect the health and safety of the public.”

“We take that very seriously,” he said.

“I’ve always been a person who enjoys giving service to others,” Hart said.

Johnson said he was inspired by Ronald Reagan’s policy cutting taxes to increase the size of the economy based on supply-side economic theory.

“I’m really interested in the kitchen table issues that affect the economy, that affect people’s lives– tax policy, regulatory policy,” Johnson said. “I think the less government the better. A decentralized form of government where the government closest to the people governs best.”

The ultimate role of the state central committee is to elect Republican candidates, Johnson said.

“I try to back the best candidate I can find that’s electable,” Johnson said.

Johnson said his focus since engaging in Republican party politics has been on “making the community, making the county, a good place to live, by virtue of electing good people to public office.”

“I agree, you have to win elections,” Hart said. “But when you do get the power in your hands, we have to steer the ship the other direction.”