The Supreme Court denied an emergency application that sought to restore Sam Ronan to the Ohio Republican primary ballot, leaving lower court rulings in place, the court said in an order that Justice Kavanaugh referred to the full Court.
According to the order, "The application for injunction pending appeal presented to Justice Kavanaugh and by him referred to the Court is denied," a move that lets state officials keep Ronan off the ballot in the closely watched race.
Ronan had been certified by the Franklin County Board of Elections on February 17, then removed from the Republican primary ballot by Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose on March 19, following a tied protest decision at the board, as reported by court filings.
A Republican voter, Mark Schare, filed the protest with the board, offering social media posts and interviews as evidence that Ronan was running as part of a strategy to place Democrats on Republican ballots in deep red districts, according to court documents.
Ronan had earlier run unsuccessfully for chair of the Democratic National Committee, and he and his campaign manager Ana Cordero maintained he truthfully declared his Republican affiliation and intended to support party principles, attorneys Mark R. Brown and Oliver Hall wrote in their emergency application.
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost and state lawyers Mathura J. Sridharan and Layne H. Tieszen countered that Ronan is a Democrat and that his stated intent was to "torpedo the republican party from within," arguing the state could enforce candidacy declaration rules.
Court Rulings And Legal Arguments
Chief U.S. District Judge Sarah D. Morrison denied Ronan the relief he sought, finding the state has a substantial interest in policing fraudulent candidacy declarations and that the First Amendment does not require allowing a candidate who lied about party affiliation to remain on a partisan ballot.
Judge Morrison wrote that "It cannot be the case that a State must allow a candidate on a partisan ballot even if he lied about his party affiliation simply because the First Amendment is implicated," a rationale reflected in later appellate decisions.
An appellate panel of GOP appointees declined to reinstate Ronan on the ballot, and the Supreme Court order left those rulings intact, meaning Ronan will not appear in the Republican primary field as the May 5 primary approaches, according to the filings.
Ronan and Ana Cordero argued to the justices that removing him penalized protected political speech and would chill candidates, while his attorneys cited historical party changes to defend his candidacy, as described in their court papers.
