Change could be coming to 'sore loser statute' that disqualified several Lorain mayoral candidates

Changes could be coming to the law that caused the disqualification of several Democratic candidates for Lorain mayor on Tuesday's ballot. Sen. Nathan Manning, R-North Ridgeville, introduced legislation Wednesday to remedy a problem created by the "sore loser statute" in Lorain after Mayor Chase Ritenauer's resignation in May. "If you happen to be on the primary ballot, whether its for that (vacant) seat that you're looking to be appointed to or another seat, as many of these candidates were, we're going to remove that from the law and now you can still be appointed," Manning said. "It's a pretty simple bill, really, we're just striking one line." Ritenauer resigned after winning the Democratic primary, leaving a vacancy on the ballot to be appointed by the city's Democratic Central Committee. Several local elected officials sought the seat: Council members Joel Arredondo, Mitch Fallis and Mary Springowski, City Auditor Karen Shawver and then-Board of Education vice president Tony Dimacchia, and former state Rep. Dan Ramos. All but Ramos were disqualified, with Ramos stepping down shortly thereafter citing the issue had turned into a "circus." Ahead of the June vote, former UAW Local 2000 chairman Jerry Donovan and attorney Jack Bradley sought the seat, with Donovan stepping down just before the June 25 vote. Following Bradley's appointment to the ballot, Springowski, D-at Large, contacted Manning and other representatives about how the law was applied. "I reached out to everybody that I could think of, she said. "If it's bad legislation, then let's fix the legislation and they jumped on it and they have fixed the legislation." Avon Lake-based Attorney Gerald Phillips also raised concerns, filing a protest with the county Board of Elections and alleging the interpretation of the law was incorrect. In the midst of the appointment process, Phillips released several legal memorandums alleging those disqualified candidates could withdraw from their primary-won seats and seek the appointment. In a news release from Manning's office, Ritenauer said when he decided to step down to pursue a career in the private sector, he assumed the appointment process "would play out as it had in past vacancies." "What occurred was patently unfair to all potential candidates who were disqualified," he said. "The law should be remedied immediately so this never happens again. More participation should be the goal — not less." The fallout that happened in Lorain was the first Manning had heard of the statute being applied as such, he said. The introduced legislation will have no affect on this election, Manning confirmed, but said it would prevent the same situation from happening anywhere else in Ohio. Manning said he spoke with the original bill's sponsor, now-Rep. Bill Seitz, R-Cincinnati, and said that section of the original law was meant to bar someone from running for the same position as an independent, write-in or third-party candidate. As his introduced legislation stands, Manning said in the example of Ritenauer's departure, if the former mayor had had a challenger in the primary, he didn't see why the primary opponent couldn't be appointed. "I think probably the intention of the bill originally, this aspect of it, was to eliminate people for that same position," he said. "I don't think they really foresaw people running for Council at-large not being able to replace somebody on the ballot for mayor." The bill has yet to be assigned to a committee. Manning said he may look to have it amended as part of another bill to speed up the legislative process, otherwise it will move forward on its own. The goal is to have the fix in place by the next primary election, he said. Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.