Published: Saturday, June 9, 2007
Independents' candidacies in jeopardy
Voting in a party primary
invalidates independence,
according to the Ohio AG.
YOUNGSTOWN — Several independent candidates, including eight for Youngstown council seats and those running for mayor in Girard and Hubbard, may not be eligible to seek the jobs.
A recent advisory opinion from Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner states if a candidate votes in a party primary election after filing as an independent, the candidate's "claim of independence was either not made in good faith or is no longer current."
The opinion also states candidates aren't independent if they serve on a political party's central or executive committees when they file as independents.
The Mahoning County Board of Elections will meet at 9 a.m. Thursday to determine the eligibility of eight Youngstown council candidates. The board certified the eligibility of the candidates May 29.
"We're going to have some issues, and these candidates are in jeopardy" of being disqualified, said Thomas McCabe, the elections board's director. "... There is a problem. We'll see what happens, and I can't speak for the board, but it's quite likely the board will disqualify these candidates."
Of the 10 candidates who filed by the May 7 deadline to run as independents for Youngstown council seats, seven voted in the May 8 Democratic primary. Moses H. Mahdee, a 5th Ward candidate, not only voted in the primary, but he's a member of the Democratic central committee.
Tyrone Peakes, another independent candidate in the 5th Ward, serves as a member of the Republican central committee.
Other counties
In Trumbull County, the eligibility of seven candidates is in question. That includes mayoral candidates Myron Esposito of Girard and Timothy E. O'Hara of Hubbard, as well as incumbent Niles Councilman David Wilkerson of the 1st Ward and three of four McDonald village council candidates.
Trumbull's elections board is planning to certify the independent candidates July 10. The deadline to certify independents is July 15.
Trumbull elections officials will discuss this issue in detail with the secretary of state's office at the annual elections board training conference June 19-21 in Columbus, said Kelly Pallante, the county's elections director.
The Columbiana County Board of Elections hasn't checked the voting record of independent candidates to see if their eligibility is in question, said Lois Gall, its director. That process will be done before the county board votes to certify independent candidates July 5.
Delayed notification
The long-standing practice in Ohio's counties didn't preclude candidates running as independents from being affiliated with a political party.
A three-member judicial panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in September 2006 that a Madison County congressional candidate couldn't run as an independent because he voted in a Republican primary after filing.
After the court decision, then-Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell, a Republican, should have notified county boards of elections about it, but failed to do so, said McCabe, a fellow Republican.
"Blackwell's office should have advised us," McCabe said. "His office dropped the ball."
When Jennifer Brunner, a Democrat who succeeded Blackwell, discovered the court case recently she sent the advisory opinion to the boards of elections, said Jeff Ortega, her spokesman.
Reactions
Candidates potentially impacted by this expressed shock and surprise Friday.
"Wow, I'm concerned about this," said Timothy E. O'Hara, an independent candidate for Hubbard mayor who voted in the Democratic primary. "I've started my campaign."
Frank Bellamy, an independent Youngstown 1st Ward council candidate, said he is seeking legal advice to see if he and fellow independents can stay on the ballot.
"I wish I would have known this before I voted," he said. "I expended a lot of time and energy, and it all seems to be wasted."
Maggy Lorenzi, an independent candidate for the Youngstown 6th Ward council seat, said those running in this year's election shouldn't be punished because the state didn't notify candidates until this week about the change. "We'll see what happens," she said.
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