The Daily Standard
Story Archive
CELINA - A protest filed against the candidacy of a St. Marys transgender woman looking to unseat State Rep. Angie King, R-Celina, has been deemed invalid by the Ohio Secretary of State's Office, according to a local elections official.
However, county assistant prosecutor Amy Ikerd said it's unclear at the moment whether Mercer County Board of Elections members will go ahead with a hearing on the matter.
Board of elections members last month certified the petition of Arienne Childrey. Childrey was the lone Democrat to file to run for Ohio's 84th House District seat. The district covers all of Mercer County, southern Auglaize County and northern Darke County.
Mercer County Republican Party Chairman Robert Hibner on Friday submitted a letter of protest to the board of elections office, claiming Childrey has been known by at least one other name in the past year but did not list any other names on her petition.
State law says that a candidate must provide any name changes within the last five years to qualify for the ballot.
The Secretary of State's Office on Monday informed board of elections directors Deb Sneddon and Kristi Rable that "the challenge was not valid because it didn't come from the same party," Sneddon said.
Ohio Revised Code states that protests against the candidacy of any person filing a declaration of candidacy for party nomination may be filed by any qualified elector who is a member of the same political party as the candidate and who is eligible to vote at the primary election for the candidate.
Elections officials at this time are unsure if they have to hold a hearing on the protest, according to Ikerd, who is still conferring with state officials.
"I think that we don't have a lot of guidance at this point, and unfortunately the statute is silent as to whether you have to have a hearing in both instances, so it's a gray area," she said.
Mercer County Democratic Party members on Monday night voted in favor of a resolution supporting the immediate dismissal of the protest of Childrey's candidacy filed by Hibner, citing a section of ORC listing the process for challenging partisan primary candidates.
"As the controlling committee of the political party, we do not object to Arienne Childrey's candidacy," the resolution states. "We do, however, object to Republican Chair Bob Hibner's protest of our Democratic Candidate's right to run for office and our Democratic Members' right to nominate candidates to the general election."
If the Secretary of State and local boards of elections wish to enforce the former name requirement from ORC, they should include that information on filing forms, candidate packets and guidebooks and elections officials' handbooks, the resolution continues.
Otherwise, "this selective enforcement is nothing but discrimination and political grandstanding," the resolution reads.
"Mr. Hibner's protest is nothing but a hateful attempt to further discriminate against a community not meeting the GOP definition of 'normal.' A radical approach to alienate qualified candidates and stifle the will of the voters," party vice-chair Don Holtvoigt said in a statement. "There is no acceptable explanation to pursue this challenge when no guidance to candidates has been provided. The radical right should cease and desist in their efforts to divide our community."
When reached by the newspaper on Monday night, Hibner offered a statement as well.
"There was some concerns and we felt that between the board of elections and the Secretary of State, they would evaluate it," Hibner said of his letter of protest. "If the concerns were well founded … they would take appropriate action. If not, she'll be on the ballot and our candidate is confident she will prevail. We just wanted it looked at."
