Jay, I thought that you might be interested in looking over this article about Youngstown when the Republican Party was actively running serious candidates for office in Mahoning County and Youngstown back in 1960.
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=OCdKAAAAIBAJ&sjid=u4UMAAAAIBAJ&pg=1504%2C3193816 (http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=OCdKAAAAIBAJ&sjid=u4UMAAAAIBAJ&pg=1504%2C3193816)
It's truly sad that today's GOP isn't even a shadow of it's former self here, and really there is no excuse for it, so the blame must fall on the shoulders of the party leadership here in Mahoning County.
Here are the sample ballots for the 1960 Primary Election
By the way, the Vindicator endorsed Richard Nixon in that election as well as some other Republicans.
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=2PNJAAAAIBAJ&sjid=EYUMAAAAIBAJ&pg=989%2C223660 (http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=2PNJAAAAIBAJ&sjid=EYUMAAAAIBAJ&pg=989%2C223660)