Democrats to name new Summit County Executive

Public meeting, panel vote Thursday at North High
By Katie Byard
Beacon Journal staff writer

The Summit County Democratic Central Committee will pick a new county executive
Thursday evening at Akron' s North High School.

So far , Summit County Councilman Tim Crawford and county Democratic Party Chair Russ Pry have expressed interest in the position. ''No one else is campaigning for it, though someone could still run that night,'' Pry said Tuesday. The winner will finish the term of the now-retired James McCarthy, and will have the option of running for election to a full four - year term in November 2008. McCarthy , 67, retired on June 30 after being the county's top official for nearly seven years.

Anyone seeking the job now must be nominated by a member of the central committee at Thursday's gathering. The committee will meet at 7 p.m. at North High , 985 Gorge Blvd . The meeting is
open to the public. Each candidate will be given five minutes to address the gathering . Committee members then will vote by secret ballot.

Th e votes should be tallied by 8 p.m., Pry said. Pry, who lives in A kron , said Tuesday that if he is not elected T hursday , he will not run in 2008. R ejection by committee members would mean ''I need to think about doing something else,'' Pr y said.

Crawford , D - N orton , said that if he does not win T hursday , he will run for the post in 2008 or seek re - election to his County Council seat. ''I'm still enjoying the political arena"

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