SCOTUS delivers bad news to Ohio ‘Democrat’ who tried to run as a Republican
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose (R). Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call Inc./Getty Images
The Ohio Board of Elections put his disqualification to a vote and ended up tied along party lines. The decision was consequently kicked to Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose (R), who broke the deadlock in favor of disqualification, revealing on March 19 that he was removing Ronan from the Ohio primary ballot.
LaRose emphasized in his decision that the “issue here is not ‘ideological purity,'” but “the integrity of the electoral process.”
Rejected
The Democrat interloper — who noted last month that he opposes sealing the border and stopping the “migrant invasion” — challenged his disqualification, suing LaRose and members of the Franklin County Board of Elections, and alleging that his First Amendment rights were violated.
Ronan managed to obtain a temporary restraining order; however, U.S. District Court Judge Sarah Morrison, an appointee of President Donald Trump, had it vacated and denied Ronan a preliminary injunction earlier this month.
“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,” wrote Morrison. “To do so ‘would subject virtually every electoral regulation to strict scrutiny, hamper the ability of States to run efficient and equitable elections, and compel federal courts to rewrite state electoral codes.'”
After a three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit — made aware of Ronan’s recent social post in which he stated, “Leftists need to infiltrate [R]epublican spaces and primary them” — similarly refused to put the ex-candidate back on the ballot.
Alongside his campaign manager, Ana Cordero, Ronan appealed at last to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Ronan’s legal counsel claimed in the emergency application, “Ronan did not act in bad faith. He was honest. He made plain that though he was once a Democrat he is now seeking to transport across the aisle ideas that were not embraced by the Democratic Party. Ronan’s campaign is a good faith attempt to win over Republican voters by advocating his values — values he believes Democrats have forsaken. That is not a ‘strategic candidacy’ or some kind of trick. It is not unlawful.”
Republican Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost’s office said in a response to the application, “Samuel Ronan wanted to run for office in Ohio’s Republican primary as a Republican. Just one problem: he is a Democrat.”
The office noted further that “Ronan’s request is upside down.”
“Political parties possess a First Amendment associational right to exclude those who do not share their values,” said Yost’s office. “So it would be quite surprising if the First Amendment forbids States from protecting that right when the Amendment ‘barely — and only provisionally — permits’ States to compel association.”
Justice Brett Kavanaugh referred Ronan’s application to the full court, which denied Ronan’s request on Thursday, reported the Courthouse News Service.
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