The Supreme Court on Thursday denied a self-identified progressive’s attempt to run as a Republican candidate in Ohio’s 15th Congressional District primary, a district President Donald Trump won by nine points in 2024.
Samuel Ronan, an Air Force veteran, was booted from the ballot by Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, who cited “integrity of the electoral process,” according to Fox News.
Fox reported that Ronan “signed a declaration of candidacy — under penalty of election falsification — swearing he was a member of the Republican Party.”
Unfortunately for him, “documents filed in U.S. District Court note Ronan was caught publicly admitting that his candidacy was part of a calculated strategy to run Democrats as Republicans in ‘deep red districts’ to ‘get a foot in the door.'”
The Court’s ruling rightly leaves LaRose’s decision in place.
A report on the SCOTUS blog stated: [Emphasis mine.]
Ronan ran for the chair of the Democratic National Committee in 2017. During that race, LaRose said, Ronan “continued to advocate for his strategy of running Democrats as Republicans in deeply red districts.”Last month, Ronan was removed from the ballot when a voter protested his candidacy, alleging that Ronan was “not in fact a Republican.” The Franklin County Board of Elections divided two to two on the challenge; the dispute then went to LaRose, who broke the tie in favor of the protester and remov[ed] Ronan from the ballot.Ronan went to federal court, where he argued (among other things) that his removal from the ballot violates the First Amendment. But two federal courts declined to intervene. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit agreed with U.S. District Judge Sarah Morrison that although Ronan could change political parties, state law – which requires him to attest (among other things) that if elected, he would “support and abide by the principles enunciated by the Republican Party” – requires him to do so in good faith. Ronan had not shown, the court of appeals concluded, that such a requirement violates the First Amendment.
On Monday, Ronan submitted a 23-page filing on the Supreme Court’s interim docket, in which he sought “immediate injunctive relief.” Early voting in the state’s primary was set to begin the next day. Ronan claimed he’d been removed from the ballot “based solely on the content of his core political speech.”
According to SCOTUS blog:
Both LaRose and the county election officials asked the justices to deny Ronan’s request. As an initial matter, LaRose emphasized, the 6th Circuit was correct that Ronan is unlikely to succeed on the merits of his claim. “The First Amendment,” he wrote, “does not restrict the State from promoting order, fairness, and integrity in their elections.” Instead, he contended, states have “wide latitude to regulate party primaries and other candidate-selection mechanics” to bring order to the election process.Moreover, the county election officials added, Ronan has other options if he is not included on the Republican primary ballot: he can always run as an independent candidate, for example.
Courthouse News Service reported that Justice Brett Kavanaugh “referred the application to the full court, which denied Ronan’s request without explanation.”
A glance through Ronan’s social media history tells you everything you need to know about his political worldview. For example, the following post is “pinned” to his X account:
And here is a Ronan post from last October:
Ronan’s strategy isn’t entirely new. While still uncommon in modern politics, there have been instances of Democratic candidates attempting to compete in red districts by presenting themselves as Republicans.
In a YouTube video circulating online, a lifelong Democrat speaks to supporters in Shelby, North Carolina, saying, “I am your fake Republican candidate for Congressional District 14.” She goes on to justify the approach, arguing that “this district is gerrymandered.”
The video was published by CBC News (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation). It’s not the kind of story you’d expect America’s legacy media to highlight, is it?
A far more common approach, however, is for Democratic candidates to campaign as moderates, and then, once in office, shed their centrist image and pursue a progressive agenda. Abigail Spanberger’s dramatic bait and switch has left many constituents feeling misled and betrayed.
The stark contrast between Spanberger’s campaign messaging and her stunning record in office is likely to feature prominently in Republican campaign ads this fall.
Elizabeth writes commentary for Legal Insurrection and The Washington Examiner. She is an academy fellow at The Heritage Foundation. Please follow Elizabeth on X or LinkedIn.
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