Tom Names

Tom Names ran in a special election for an at-large seat of the Toledo City Council in Ohio. He lost in the special general election on November 5, 2024.

Biography

Tom Names earned a bachelor's degree from Lafayette College in 1974. His career experience includes working as a licensed professional engineer.

As of 2023, Names was affiliated with the following organizations:^[1]

Coalition for Peaceful Toledo Neighborhoods
American Legion
Tree Toledo
Sylvania Moose Lodge
Bavarian Sports Club
Hungarian Club

Elections

2024

General election

Special general election for Toledo City Council At-large

Incumbent Mac Driscoll defeated Tom Names in the special general election for Toledo City Council At-large on November 5, 2024.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Mac Driscoll (Nonpartisan)	69.9	42,401
	Tom Names (Nonpartisan)	30.1	18,289

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. Source	Total votes: 60,690
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Names in this election.

2023

General election

General election for Toledo City Council District 5

Incumbent Sam Melden defeated Tom Names in the general election for Toledo City Council District 5 on November 7, 2023.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Sam Melden (Nonpartisan)	67.3	7,389
	Tom Names (Nonpartisan)	31.9	3,500
	Other/Write-in votes	0.9	94

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 10,983
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Nonpartisan primary election

The primary election was canceled. Incumbent Sam Melden and Tom Names advanced from the primary for Toledo City Council District 5.

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Names in this election.

2021

General election

General election for Toledo City Council At-large (6 seats)

The following candidates ran in the general election for Toledo City Council At-large on November 2, 2021.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Katie Moline (Nonpartisan)	13.4	21,969
✔		Nick Komives (Nonpartisan)	10.9	17,758
✔		Michele Grim (Nonpartisan)	10.8	17,659
✔	Submit photo	Cerssandra McPherson (Nonpartisan)	9.9	16,134
✔	Submit photo	Tiffany Preston Whitman (Nonpartisan)	9.5	15,529
✔	Submit photo	George Sarantou (Nonpartisan)	9.2	15,001
		Tony Dia (Nonpartisan)	7.0	11,365
	Submit photo	Harvey Savage Jr. (Nonpartisan)	6.5	10,546
	Submit photo	Tim Ryan (Nonpartisan)	6.1	9,978
		Mac Driscoll (Nonpartisan)	6.0	9,791
		Ron Murphy (Nonpartisan)	5.9	9,600
		Larry Sykes (Nonpartisan)	4.6	7,568
		Other/Write-in votes	0.3	501

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 163,399
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for Toledo City Council At-large (6 seats)

The following candidates ran in the primary for Toledo City Council At-large on September 14, 2021.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Katie Moline (Nonpartisan)	11.3	7,413
✔		Nick Komives (Nonpartisan)	9.3	6,134
✔	Submit photo	Cerssandra McPherson (Nonpartisan)	8.8	5,776
✔	Submit photo	Tiffany Preston Whitman (Nonpartisan)	8.7	5,715
✔		Michele Grim (Nonpartisan)	8.3	5,437
✔	Submit photo	George Sarantou (Nonpartisan)	7.5	4,921
✔	Submit photo	Harvey Savage Jr. (Nonpartisan)	5.7	3,731
✔		Tony Dia (Nonpartisan)	5.2	3,447
✔	Submit photo	Tim Ryan (Nonpartisan)	4.4	2,901
✔		Ron Murphy (Nonpartisan)	4.4	2,898
✔		Mac Driscoll (Nonpartisan)	4.4	2,888
✔		Larry Sykes (Nonpartisan)	4.0	2,623
	Submit photo	Michael Knight (Nonpartisan)	3.6	2,366
		Daniel Ortiz (Nonpartisan)	3.4	2,211
	Submit photo	Alfonso Narvaez (Nonpartisan)	3.1	2,066
		Tom Names (Nonpartisan)	2.7	1,772
	Submit photo	Steven Fought (Nonpartisan)	2.2	1,470
	Submit photo	Jim Hill (Nonpartisan)	1.6	1,019
	Submit photo	James Kushlan (Nonpartisan)	1.1	754
		Other/Write-in votes	0.2	156

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 65,698
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Samuel Harden (Nonpartisan)
Adam Martinez (Nonpartisan)
Jody Carroll (Nonpartisan)
Glen Cook (Nonpartisan)
Brenda Snyder (Nonpartisan)

2020

General election

General election for Lucas County Commission

Incumbent Tina Skeldon Wozniak won election in the general election for Lucas County Commission on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Tina Skeldon Wozniak (D)	100.0	144,613

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 144,613
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Tom Names (R)

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Lucas County Commission

Incumbent Tina Skeldon Wozniak advanced from the Democratic primary for Lucas County Commission on April 28, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Tina Skeldon Wozniak	100.0	23,916

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 23,916
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Lucas County Commission

Tom Names advanced from the Republican primary for Lucas County Commission on April 28, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Tom Names	100.0	9,066

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 9,066
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

James Corey Robertson (R)

2019

General election

General election for Toledo City Council District 5

Sam Melden defeated Tom Names in the general election for Toledo City Council District 5 on November 5, 2019.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Sam Melden (Nonpartisan)	62.4	4,613
	Tom Names (Nonpartisan)	37.6	2,776

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 7,389
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for Toledo City Council District 5

Sam Melden and Tom Names defeated Connor Kelley in the primary for Toledo City Council District 5 on September 10, 2019.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Sam Melden (Nonpartisan)	63.7	1,377
✔		Tom Names (Nonpartisan)	22.7	492
	Submit photo	Connor Kelley (Nonpartisan)	13.6	294

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 2,163
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Shane Logan (Nonpartisan)

2017

See also: Municipal elections in Toledo, Ohio (2017)

The following candidates ran in the primary election for six at-large seats on the Toledo City Council.

Toledo City Council, At-large Primary Election, 2017
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Sandy Spang Incumbent	12.16%	12,679
Rob Ludeman Incumbent	10.75%	11,205
Larry Sykes Incumbent	10.55%	11,004
Cecelia Adams Incumbent	10.27%	10,704
Harvey Savage Jr.	8.81%	9,186
Gary Johnson	8.39%	8,745
Nick Komives	8.24%	8,595
Sam Melden	7.33%	7,646
Kurt Young Incumbent	6.30%	6,570
Patricia Robinson	5.75%	5,994
Alfonso Narvaez	5.03%	5,243
Clyde Phillips Jr.	3.60%	3,754
Thomas Names	2.83%	2,949
Total Votes		104,274
Source: Lucas County Board of Elections, "Board of Elections," accessed September 12, 2017

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

Tom Names did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

2023

Tom Names completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Names' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I grew up in New Jersey, and graduated from Lafayette College with a BS in Mechanical Engineering. I have forty years of experience as a consultant to power industry. Projects have included chicken litter, tire and waste burners, and solar, coal-fired, combustion turbine, and nuclear plants. . A significant amount has been the design and installation of anti-pollution devices and water treatment systems. I have been a Toledo resident for over twenty seven years. I am currently retired, engaged with the community and running for Toledo City Council. I am a good listener, problem solver and have a strong work ethic befitting my professional experience.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

Be a conservative steward of tax payer money. Taxes should be spent on infrastructure and services that benefit the general population; not special interests. Put government to work rather than subcontracting work, for example, preparing studies and procedures and performing personnel searches. Where possible practice competitive bidding rather than sole-source contracting. Challenge government spending and consider alternatives. Stop the frivolous spending like promoting Italian football games.
Invest in the neighborhoods and infrastructure. The heart of Toledo resides in community pride. Provide name designation monuments at the entry to neighborhoods. Repair the Bayview Wastewater Treatment Plant. Repair the roads. Plant trees. Protect our natural resources. Use the Land Bank for property assessments and loans and for the demolition or recovery of abandoned properties and businesses. Encourage home ownership and community gardens. Invest in tiny housing projects.
Make neighborhoods safe and peaceful. Nurture children to become self-sufficient members of the community with a holistic approach through parents, guardians, teachers, guidance counselors, and church leaders. Encourage extracurricular activity options. Increase police presence in the community. Restore neighborhood watch groups. Crack down on crime.

Community Question Featured local question

Do you believe crime rates are changing? Where do you get your crime rate data from? Would you make any changes to existing public safety policy?

Homicides have gone down in the past year, but crime is still flourishing because there is not enough police presence. Information on crime is available at block watch meetings, the eleven o'clock news channels, the internet and the police chief's semi-annual report to city council.

Community Question Featured local question

Do you think the downtown area is healthy? What is your definition of a healthy downtown? What changes, if any, would you like to make?

Too much hype is given to downtown, but it could be more vibrant with more business real estate filled if it could resolve transportations and parking.

Parking should be free on the streets. Business should subsidize the city for parking garage or lot maintenance. Regular police should give tickets for parking violations and be enforced by a municipal court as done at other cities.

Community Question Featured local question

How important is it to involve residents in the government’s decision-making process? What plans do you have regarding resident involvement in this process?

My slogan, "For the People" is not an idle promise. Input on constituent concerns is paramount in establishing a dialogue. My phone number and e-mail address is always available. I am also thoroughly involved in community activities to listen, for example, block watches, Advocates for a Clean lake Erie, Tree Toledo, American Legions, Retiree's Golf League, Moose Lodge, Hungarian Club and the Bavarian Sports Club.

There are two libraries in District 5 that I will represent. If elected I plan to hold meeting to discuss actions being considered by City Council at these libraries. For larger issues, there are also referendums.

Community Question Featured local question

How should record requests from the public be handled? Do you have any policies around transparency and accountability you want to enact?

The start of the strong mayor form of government was not very transparent. Since then Toledo has become a more transparent city. The Engage Toledo has become a good resource for information. It needs to be strengthened to improve the turnaround time.

Community Question Featured local question

How would you address crime and public safety? Do you have a different stance than current city council policy?

In a recent three year period Toledo experienced nearly three hundred (300) homicides. This is just the tip of the iceberg for all of the other shootings, violence and crime. Four former mayors of Toledo created a Coalition for Peaceful Toledo Neighborhoods to meet with citizens and find solutions that resulted in a Twelve Point Plan. I went to the meetings and contributed to that plan. I endorse that plan.

The mayor has been trying to avoid his involvement in finding a solution to the violence. First, he appointed his Chief of Staff to the problem and declared war on the violence. Then he hired Interrupters. Lastly, he hired a consultant to look into the problem. For the most part he has ignored the recommendations of the Coalition.

Community Question Featured local question

What do you think about the city's environmental health? Would you make any changes to current policy?

The city is grossly paved and concreted over resulting in dead zones. Plant more trees in public areas. Minimize the expansion of sidewalks. Encourage rooftop gardens. Consider zoning options.

Toledo has a high water table. Ensure the land can absorb heavy rainfalls without impacting the sewer system.

Petition for changes that eliminate toxic algae blooms in Lake Erie and impact the Collings Park Water Treatment Plant.

Community Question Featured local question

What plans do you have regarding infrastructure?

Toledo has a history of neglecting infrastructure. In 2014 Northwest Ohio lost potable water because the Collins Park Water Treatment Plant was not designed to address the toxic algae blooms that formed around the Lake Erie intake structure. That has been corrected at a huge cost, but there other problems with infrastructure.

Toledo roads are in shambles. A ballot issue to raise taxes to repair the roads has passed, bur it is not sustainable and will not catch up with the neglect. More regular taxes need to be devoted to the roads.

The Bayview Wastewater Treatment Plant has also been neglected and needs to be repaired before it becomes a similar catastrophe to the Collins Park Plant.

As an engineering consultant to the power industry I am familiar with water treatment design. Qualifications not currently on City Council.

Community Question Featured local question

What plans do you have regarding the police department? Would you make any changes from current policy?

The police force needs to be expanded for a city the size of Toledo. The police need a greater presence. The police should be handing out parking violation tickets downtown and patrolling the streets, especially for speeding violations. Consider putting the police on motorcycles.

Continue having social events to meet police and at block watches.

Community Question Featured local question

What policies would you have implemented in reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic? Why did you select those policies?

I would have been more honest with the public and told them that wearing masks was important. I would instruct on how to make improvised masks when the commercially made masks were initially in short supply.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Conservative government and spending

What qualities does this office possess that makes it a unique and important part of the state government and legal system?

City Council writes and revises city ordinances.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

James Madison. He was one of the authors of the U.S. Constitution and provided a moderating influence between the Federalists and the Republicans during the drafting of the document. The authors also had the foresight to include provisions to amend the Constitution. To belay some of the earlier concerns, James Madison authored the Bill of Rights amendments.

The ideals of individual freedoms provided by the Bill of Rights was ground-breaking and should be preserved, but some of the aspects, especially tangible rights, need to be revised because of the evolution of man and technology. I look forward to the challenge of being a moderating influence is preserving individual freedoms while protecting citizens from the infringement of others.

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

I took a social studies course as a sophomore in high school and the teacher asked, "Why do you take out the garbage?" Everyone answered to get rid of it. "But why don't you just throw it over the fence into the neighbors' yard, " he retorted.

In the next forty minutes of discussion we decided that we all have individual freedoms as long as we don't infringe on the rights of others.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Integrity

Empathy

Intelligence

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

Good work ethic

Good listener
Empathetic
Good problem solver

Honest

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

A District 5 City Councilman is representative of constituents of his district to the Toledo government.

What legacy would you like to leave?

A city that people want to live in rather than a city that people want to escape from.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

The first house that my parents lived in was out on Long Island. I remember pedaling a brown tricycle on the driveway that had wooden block wheels and ringer-bell on the handlebars. There was an old garage at the end of the driveway that had tall doors. I must have been around two years old because we move to New Jersey when I was three years old.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

The first paycheck job I had was as a lifeguard at the Demarest Swimming Club. It was only a summer job when I was going to college. I passed my life guard exam given by the Red Cross to qualify for the job. As I recall, it paid $1.80 per hour. Later that summer and in the evenings after work, I enrolled and passed a more advanced course given by the Red Cross that qualified me to give swim instruction. It earned me an extra $.05 per hour.

What is your favorite book? Why?

Chesapeake . It provides a microhistory of the United States with all of its warts.

If you could be any fictional character, who would you want to be?

Indiana Jones

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

"don't let the sound of your own wheels drive you crazy"

What is something that has been a struggle in your life?

I am reserved and don't make great first impressions.

Are there any little-known powers or responsibilities held by this office that you believe more people should be aware of?

City Council rules on zoning changes.

Do you believe that it's beneficial for holders of this office to have previous experience in government or politics?

City Council members should have broad experiences. Previous experience should not be a prerequisite. I think members should have a deep understanding of the consequences of their actions.

What kind of skills or expertise do you believe would be the most helpful for the holders of this office to possess?

I think my experience as an engineer and specification writer is useful in solving problems and drafting ordinances.

Tell us your favorite joke.

What did the blind fish say when it swam into the concrete wall?
"Dam"

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

None so far.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Note: Community Questions were submitted by the public and chosen for inclusion by a volunteer advisory board. The chosen questions were modified by staff to adhere to Ballotpedia’s neutrality standards. To learn more about Ballotpedia’s Candidate Connection Expansion Project, click here.

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Footnotes

↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on October 4, 2023

[1] Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on October 4, 2023

[1]

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Tom Names

Biography

Elections

2024

General election

Special general election for Toledo City Council At-large

Endorsements

2023

General election

General election for Toledo City Council District 5

Nonpartisan primary election

Endorsements

2021

General election

General election for Toledo City Council At-large (6 seats)

Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for Toledo City Council At-large (6 seats)

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

2020

General election

General election for Lucas County Commission

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Lucas County Commission

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Lucas County Commission

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

2019

General election

General election for Toledo City Council District 5

Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for Toledo City Council District 5

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

2017

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

2023

2021

2020

2019

See also

External links

Footnotes

Information about voting

2024 Elections

2024 Election analysis

2025 Elections

Trending

Public Policy

Information for candidates

Get Engaged

Services

Additional analysis

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