In taking stock of the much-ballyhooed general election of 2024, one thing is crystal clear: A strong tsunami of change swept through the nation, the state and the Mahoning Valley.

In the United States, former President Donald J. Trump rebounded strongly from his 2020 defeat, garnering more votes among most all demographic groups and scoring his first victory in the electoral vote and the popular vote.

In the state of Ohio, three-decadelong state and federal legislator Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, fell to defeat for the first time in his congressional career at the hands of Republican Bernie Moreno.

In the Valley, a majority of incumbent county officeholders in Mahoning and Trumbull counties — including longtime Mahoning County Commissioner David Ditzler and veteran Trumbull County Sheriff Paul Monroe — were unseated by Republican challengers.

We congratulate all of the victors and wish them well as they prepare to do what they’ve been campaigning to do for months or longer: Serve the public interest as capably as possible.

As they do, we urge them to recognize that the public they are serving comprises those who supported them at the polls and, in many cases, the nearly 50% who did not.

Clearly, the razor-thin margins of victory for most of Tuesday’s winning candidates illustrate vividly the deep political division that has characterized our community, state and nation for quite some time.

Part of the mission of each new officeholder then must be striving to carve unity out of division. That means all of the derisive name-calling and criticism of their opponents and their opponents’ political ideologies must cease, and a focus must be squarely placed on fulfilling their specific elected duties to the best of their abilities and to work with all of their associates as cooperatively as possible.

In addition to the mandate for change in leadership from Tuesday’s general election also came a resounding call among the electorate throughout the Valley to keep tight reins on spending precious public tax dollars. In the midst of lingering high inflation, soaring property values and climbing property taxes, many voters were not in a giving mood.

And although most appeals for renewal levies met with widespread support, most of the community initiatives to seek additional donations for a variety of community services met with defeat from a seemingly taxed-off electorate.

Witness the failure of an additional tax levy in Boardman to establish a full-scale ambulance service in the township. Witness the downfall of an appeal for additional funding to beef up the Austintown Police Department. Or witness the third rejection in as many years of a multimillion-dollar bond issue in the Canfield Local School District to construct a new state-of-the-art middle school.

It is now incumbent upon leaders of those and other failed initiatives to accept the clear voice of the majority of their electorate. In blunt terms, that simply means, “make do” with the resources you have. Do not insult the intelligence of your constituents by immediately plotting to try again with the same or similar call for cash in next spring’s primary election.

In the coming days and weeks, the realities of Tuesday’s nationwide exercise in good citizenship will bear fruit. And as they do, we urge the new crop of newly elected local, state and federal officeholders to keep foremost in mind the best interests of the people who jettisoned them into public office.

We’re certain many of them, much like this newspaper, will keep a watchful eye over the caliber of their leadership. If they fail do pass muster, they need not be too surprised when another tsunami of change washes in come reelection time.

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