ATHENS COUNTY, Ohio — The Ohio Supreme Court last week unanimously upheld a decision by the Athens County Board of Elections that blocked Chauncey Mayor Amy Renner from running for county commissioner in the Democratic Party primary election.
“They agreed with us on everything,” said the BOE’s legal counsel, Assistant Athens County Prosecutor Zach West. “I’m happy that it was unanimous.”
Renner challenged the board’s December decision to keep her off the ballot, seeking a quick reversal by the supreme court that would allow her to contest Athens County Commissioner Charlie Adkins in the March 19 primary.
According to case materials, Renner’s initial nominating petition to run for the seat listed the wrong term begin date. She realized her mistake and, the next business day, submitted written notice to the board that she was withdrawing her petition.
She then turned in a new petition, listing the correct date. But the BOE unanimously decided she was not eligible to run after West advised the board that Ohio law would not allow Renner to submit a corrected petition.
Renner sought to demonstrate to the supreme court that the BOE “abused its discretion” and “acted in clear disregard of applicable law” in its decision. The court found her arguments lacking merit.
“I’m obviously disappointed. It’s not the outcome that I had hoped for,” Renner said.
Adkins will now run unopposed in the Democratic Party primary, and he will not face a Republican challenger in the November election.
“I was, you know, moving forward with my campaign and what I believe in, and I’m glad the decision was made one way or the other, and it’s not going to change what I do,” Adkins said.
It is still possible Adkins could face an independent challenger. The deadline to file as an independent candidate for the race is March 18.
Renner, however, said she is not considering contesting the race as an independent candidate.
“I feel committed to being a Democrat and trying to, you know, maybe change some of the values that we see here in this county from Democrats,” Renner said. “It’s important to me to not venture away from that, and for people to know that that is the party that I align with.”
Renner said that as a rural mayor she sees “different challenges here than maybe some of the more institutional Democrats see.” She also wants to see more diverse representation within the party, she added.
“I will continue to work for Chauncey as hard as I can and see what I can get done there. I’m not sure what the future holds for me yet,” Renner said.
The court’s decision
The court concluded, “Renner has not shown that the board of elections clearly disregarded applicable law or abused its discretion.”
Renner argued that her first petition was a “nullity” because no office exists with the term begin date she listed. Therefore, nothing should have prevented her from submitting another set of petitions, she argued.
However, the supreme court found that the first petition was simply inaccurate — not a nullity.
“Renner had a mandatory duty to accurately state in her first petition the commencement date of the term of the office she sought. Because she did not do so, her first petition was invalid. Renner’s contrary argument that her petition was a nullity fails,” the court found.
Renner also argued that the second petition essentially sought a different office because the term start date is critical to identifying the office sought on a nominating petition. She said she should therefore have been allowed to submit the second petition.
The court found, however, found that this argument lacks merit, too. Just because the law “requires a declaration of candidacy to specify the term of office does not signify that a failure to specify the term means no ‘office’ was sought,” the decision says.
Renner also argued that she effectively withdrew her candidacy by submitting a written notice to the BOE that she was withdrawing her nominating petition. Ohio law allows an individual to withdraw as a candidate, but not to withdraw a nominating petition.
Renner argued her notice sufficed, especially given a lack of clear guidance on how to withdraw a candidacy, no designated language required for an individual to do so and no designated form on which to withdraw.
The court found that, if indeed Renner had withdrawn her candidacy, the BOE would have had to review her second petition. However, “the withdrawal letter that Renner filed with the board did not announce the withdrawal of her candidacy and did not request that her name not be printed on the ballots” as required by Ohio Revised Code, the decision says.
“Renner’s arguments do not show that she correctly withdrew her candidacy,” the court concluded.
“It’s interesting that a small clerical error can have such a huge impact on someone’s ability to become a candidate,” Renner told the Independent. “I’m also holding myself accountable for making a mistake, and I tried to right my wrong, and I guess lessons have been learned.”
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