Columbus, Ohio — A transgender candidate vying for a seat in the Republican-majority Ohio House was cleared to run Thursday after her certification was questioned for omitting her former name from qualifying petitions, as required by a little-used Ohio election law.
The Mercer County Board of Elections has chosen not to vote on disqualifying Auglaize County Democrat Arienne Childrey, one of four transgender individuals campaigning for the Legislature, because she uses her previous name — also known as her dead name – did not disclose on the petition paperwork. .
Childrey, who legally changed her name in 2020, said she would have given up her deadname if she had been aware of the law.
“I would have filled in whatever it took because while it would have been a blow to my pride, there is something much more important than my pride, and that is fighting for this community,” Childrey said.
Ohio law, unknown even to many election officials, requires candidates to disclose name changes within the past five years on their petition papers, with exceptions for name changes caused by marriage. But the law is not mentioned in the 33-page guide to candidate requirements and there is no space on the petition paper to list any previous names.
Earlier this month, the board received a protest of Childrey’s ballot from Robert J. Hibner, chairman of the Mercer County Republican Party, which included her dead name and the name change law. Because the vote relates to the upcoming primary election on March 19, the board declared Hibner’s protest invalid as Hibner is from the opposing political party.
The Mercer County Board of Elections did not immediately respond to questions about the election law itself and what role it played in Thursday’s decision to keep Childrey on the ballot.
Childrey is ready for the primaries and will likely face Rep. in the November general election. Angie King, a Republican lawmaker who sponsored anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and voted to ban gender-affirming care for minors and ban transgender athletes from female sports.
The law has been around in one form or another for decades, although it is rarely used and usually arises in the context of candidates wanting to use a nickname.
Last week, Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose said that while his office is open to including the rule in the candidate guide, they are not open to changing the law and that it is up to candidates to make the decision. ensure they follow Ohio election law.
But Republican Gov. Mike DeWine said Tuesday that the law should be changed and that county boards should stop disqualifying transgender candidates on these grounds. DeWine did not say how it might be changed.
“We cannot deny access to ballots for that reason,” the governor told the Cleveland.com editorial board. “It definitely needs to be resolved.”
DeWine recently vetoed a proposed ban on gender-affirming care for minors, but the state House overrode that veto. The Senate is expected to do the same next week.
In different ways, all four transgender candidates have been affected by the legal notice requirement for name changes.
Vanessa Joy, a Stark County real estate photographer running for the Ohio House who legally changed her name in 2022, was the first to be disqualified for omitting her deadname from the petition paperwork. She appealed the disqualification but was denied. Joy is now working with legal counsel and the Ohio Democratic Party to try to change the law.
Joy says the current law is a barrier for transgender people who want to hold office but do not want to reveal their deadname – the name a transgender person was given at birth but which does not reflect their gender identity.
Ari Faber, a Democratic candidate for the Ohio Senate from Athens, was cleared to run but must use his dead name because he has not legally changed it.
Bobbie Arnold, a contractor from West Alexandria who is running as a Democrat for the Ohio House, had her possible disqualification rejected by the Montgomery County Board of Elections on Tuesday and will be put to a vote in the March primary.
When the board’s director, Jeff Rezabek, presented the facts about Arnold’s situation to the district board on Tuesday, he recommended that members take no action on the disqualification. He noted that the candidate guide did not mention the rule and that there is no evidence that Arnold deliberately deceived voters about her identity. Members agreed with Rezabek’s recommendation.
However, if Arnold were to win her election, she could still be removed from office under state law for not disclosing her dead name. Arnold is consulting with her attorney on that part of the law, but hopes that between Joy’s work with her own team to change the law and DeWine’s call for candidates to remain on the ballot, that won’t be an issue in November.
For the time being, she would like to start campaigning.
“It is important to the overall well-being of our society that every voice has the opportunity to be heard,” said Arnold, who went to Childrey’s hearing to support her. “And that’s something that we’re not experiencing right now in Ohio. .”
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Samantha Hendrickson is a staff member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.