Ohio elections chief rules Jill Flagg Lanzinger can run for Court of Appeals seat

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose has ruled that Jill Flagg Lanzinger, a current Barberton Municipal Court judge, can appear on the November ballot as a candidate for an Ohio 9th District Court of Appeals judge seat.

The Summit County Board of Elections sent the matter to LaRose to decide after the four-member panel deadlocked on a vote Aug. 22 to certify Lanzinger as a candidate on the ballot in the Nov. 8 general election.

The board’s two Republican members, Bryan Williams and Ray Weber, voted yes, and the two Democratic members, Bill Rich and Marco Sommerville, voted no.

In his decision, released Sept. 2, LaRose sided with the Republicans, meaning Lanzinger is certified as a candidate for the 9th District Court of Appeals judge with a term commencing Feb. 11, 2023, in the November general election.

LaRose’s decision is final.

Summit County Board of Elections tie:Frank LaRose to decide if Jill Flagg Lanzinger can run for Ohio 9th District Court of Appeals

Who's running for the 9th District Court of Appeals?

The 9th District Court of Appeals covers Summit, Medina, Wayne and Lorain counties.

Three of the five seats on the state appellate court are on the ballot this year. The seats have terms starting on Feb. 9, Feb. 10 and Feb. 11, respectively.

Lanzinger, a Republican, ran in Ohio’s May primary for the 9th District seat currently held by Democrat Tom Teodosio, which has a term starting Feb. 9. She ran unopposed, so she secured the nomination.

But after 9th District Judge Lynne Callahan announced her retirement (in the seat with a term starting Feb. 11), Lanzinger withdrew from the race against Teodosio, and the GOP chairs of the counties the 9th District represents chose her to run in the general election for Callahan's seat instead. (The chairs chose Scot Stevenson to run against Teodosio in her place.)

For the seat with a term starting Feb. 10, Erica Voorhees, a Democrat, is facing incumbent Donna Carr, a Republican.

Amber Crowe, a Democrat, was set to face incumbent Callahan in the race for that 9th District seat. With LaRose's decision, Lanzinger will appear on the ballot opposite Crowe.

Why did the Summit County Board of Elections have an issue?

Rich, who is also the county election board’s chair, said the issue stemmed from specific language in the Ohio Revised Code related to candidates running for a different seat in the general election than the one they ran for in the primary election.

According to the revised code, “no person who seeks party nomination for an office or position at a primary election by declaration of candidacy … shall be permitted to become a candidate by nominating petition … by declaration of intent to be a write-in candidate, or by filling a vacancy … at the following general election for any office.”

The section is colloquially known as the “sore loser law.”

But boards of elections are not allowed to disqualify a person from being a candidate for an office if that person — in a timely manner — withdraws as a candidate for any offices that person first sought to become a candidate of by filing a declaration of candidacy and petition, a declaration of intent to be a write-in candidate, or a nominating petition, by party nomination in a primary election or by the filling of a vacancy, according to the revised code.

However, there are some exceptions listed in the revised code.

Rich said that according to his interpretation of the revised code, although Lanzinger did withdraw in a timely fashion, the revised code only allows people to run for another position in the general election than the one they ran for in the primary election for specific state, county, municipal and township offices.

He said the revised code includes a specific list of state offices: governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, state auditor, state treasurer, attorney general, member of the state board of education, member of the general assembly, chief justice of the supreme court and justice of the supreme court.

Rich said that he believes courts of appeals seats would be state offices, since they cover multiple counties and don’t fit in any other type of office category. But he said that because it’s not specifically listed as a state office in the revised code, the exception allowing candidates to run in the general election for a different seat they ran for in the primary election doesn’t apply to courts of appeals seats, and Lanzinger wouldn’t be eligible to be on the ballot.

But Williams, who also chairs the Summit County Republican Party, said he doesn’t believe Lanzinger is restricted, as she not only sought the nomination but attained it and was certified — she’s not a “sore loser,” but a winner.

What did LaRose decide?

In his ruling, LaRose, a Republican, agreed with Williams' explanation. LaRose said that courts, including the Ohio Supreme Court, have reviewed the law over the years and found that its language is "straightforward, mandatory, and constitutional."

LaRose said that the Supreme Court has noted that the law applies to "unsuccessful" candidates, citing that the law is often referred to as the "so-called sore loser provision." LaRose also said various Ohio attorneys general have issued opinions finding that candidates are prohibited from running in the general election if they unsuccessfully ran for another office in the preceding primary election.

"In the matter before me, the Candidate sought a party nomination for an office or position at the May 3, 2022 Primary Election by declaration of candidacy, was successful in doing so, and subsequently was selected to fill a vacancy on the ballot for another office after timely withdrawing as a candidate for that seat," LaRose wrote. "R.C. 3513.04 and years of case law interpreting that statute's language prohibit an unsuccessful candidate from becoming a candidate at the general election by filling a vacancy on the ballot for 'any' office that is not one of the express exceptions in the statute.

"For these reasons, I uphold the law and precedent as it currently stands, break the tie and vote in favor of certifying Jill Flagg Lanzinger as a candidate for Ninth District Court of Appeals judge (term commencing February, 11, 2023) in the November 8, 2022 General Election."

Contact Beacon Journal reporter Emily Mills at emills@thebeaconjournal.com and on Twitter @EmilyMills818.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: LaRose rules Lanzinger can run for Ohio 9th District Court of Appeals