Area rep’s bill to make it easier to challenge candidacies after trans opponent makes ballot

The proposal comes after a string of transgender candidates in Ohio faced scrutiny from county boards of elections for gathering signatures using only their current legal name, which was not in compliance with a little-known Ohio law that mandates that candidates petitions include all current and former names they’ve had.

For transgender candidates, that means Ohio law mandates that they at least include their so-called deadname — the name they used before their transition — on their filings, even if it has little connection to their present identity.

One of the candidates caught up in this was Bobbie Arnold, a contractor from West Alexandria (the same town as Creech) whose candidacy was sustained by the Montgomery County Board of Elections after a review, in large part because no Democrat actually filed a protest against her, according to BOE Director Jeff Rezabek.

“There is a statute that clearly said that you have to include both your prior name and your current name on the petition, and they did not do it,” said Rezabek, whose board cleared Arnold of any foul play. “(Her petitions) should have failed originally. We did not catch it, as most of the other jurisdictions did not either.”

Rezabek said the board’s “hands were tied” when reviewing Arnold’s petitions after the fact. With no protest filed, disqualifying Arnold from the ballot would have opened the board up to a legal battle.

In an interview with this news outlet, Creech noted that it’s tough to find a Democrat to challenge a candidacy in his district largely because there aren’t that many of them. Plus he would have to get a Democrat to help disqualify another Democrat for the sake of himself, a Republican.

Creech told this news organization that the bill isn’t at all about Arnold herself, it’s rather about the hurdles that are in place for candidates to lodge a protest against other candidates who, according to the law, really shouldn’t be able to run for office.

“If somebody files to to run against me and they’re not a real candidate… why should I have to spend a hundred thousand dollars of my hard earned political funds on a fake candidate?” Creech said. “I mean, that’s not fair to anybody. That’s not fair to the voter, it’s not fair to the donor, it’s not fair to the person running for the position.”

This news organization reached out to Arnold for comment but did not get a response.

The proposal lists six reasons that an individual could cross party lines to protest a candidacy. They are:

• If the candidate is not the minimum age to hold office;

• If the candidate would exceed a term limit or age limit;

• If the candidate was ineligible due to a criminal conviction;

• If the candidate is already running for another public office;

• If the candidate was required, but did not, include a former name on their filing.

So far, the bill has only had sponsor testimony from Creech and Rep. Angela King, R-Celina, who also faces a transgender Democrat this November whose candidacy was sustained by the Mercer County Board of Elections.

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Avery Kreemer can be reached at 614-981-1422, on X, via email, or you can drop him a comment/tip with the survey below.