Lynn Maro declared her candidacy on Thursday for the position of Mahoning County’s next prosecutor.
Maro, a Republican, has tried some of the most notable cases in Mahoning County, such as former Youngstown Mayor John McNally’s corruption case, with over 25 years of experience handling criminal and civil cases.
She graduated with a BA from Youngstown State University and received her Juris Doctorate Degree from University of Akron School of Law. After law school, she joined the Akron law firm of Buckingham, Doolittle and Burroughs as an associate in the civil litigation division. In 1992, she joined the Mahoning County Prosecutor’s Office in the civil division until 1996. She has been in private practice since 1994 and currently practices law with her husband, attorney Jonathan K. Schoenike.
Maro will now have a bid at the spot previously held for more than 25 years by Democrat Paul Gains and currently held by Democrat Gina DiGenova, who replaced Gains following his retirement.
It is anticipated that the race for Mahoning County Prosecutor will rank among the most contested in years.
Maro told the 75 attendees in the courthouse rotunda on Thursday that she is not a politician and doesn’t intend to be as she launched her campaign for Mahoning County Prosecutor.
“I’m an attorney who has been in the halls of this courthouse, and the courthouses in our tri-county area, for over 30 years. Mahoning County deserves a Prosecutor who has a complete working knowledge of all aspects of the job, civil and criminal, who respects victims seeking justice, works closely with law enforcement to guarantee justice, and who honors and respects our Constitution,” Maro said.
Maro gave her reasons for running for prosecutor in 2024, saying that she wants to make a difference and cited DiGenova’s poor management of the prosecutor’s office.
“As your prosecutor, I will work closely with law enforcement to ensure the unified preparation of cases I will ensure prosecutors work in a professional environment where opinions are valued, and I will recognize hard work to avoid the turnover that has plagued this office. Quite frankly, I think I can do a better job than’s being done right now. I’ve observed things that are just wrong,” Maro said.
Without going into detail, Maro claimed that there had been violent criminal cases that have had their convictions overturned or dropped in the previous 20 years.
“Over the past 20 years, there’s been mistrials in death penalty cases because evidence hasn’t been turned over felonious assault, murder cases, gun cases, gross sexual imposition, rape cases, and major drug offenses have been dismissed of convictions vacated. Not because of novel legal issues but because evidence wasn’t turned over or the prosecutor didn’t follow the rules. That should never happen,” Maro said.
Although she said she could do better, she did not promise perfection.
“If you came here expecting me to say I was going to fix all of the problems in Mahoning County and the crime rate would plummet and everything would be great you are going to be disappointed politicians make those types of promises that they can never follow through on I’m not a politician,” Maro said.
DiGenova said she was not sure what Maro was talking about, but during her 17 years working at the prosecutor’s office, they have tried thousands of cases.
“Well, I’m not quite sure what she’s referring to. Over the last 20 years, I’m sure that there have but I’m not aware of the particular cases,” DiGenova said.
Both women will be running for Mahoning County prosecutor in 2024 along with attorney Brad Gessner who has been the only other person to announce he’s running for prosecutor. Gessner will likely run as a Democrat against DeGenova.
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Hannah Poling is a lead reporter at The Ohio Star and The Star News Network. Follow Hannah on Twitter @HannahPoling1. Email tips to [email protected]
Photo “Lynn Maro” by Lynn Maro for Prosecutor. Background Photo “Mahoning County Courthouse” by Dreajc10. CC BY-SA 4.0. Photo “Lynn Maro” by Lynn Maro for Prosecutor.
