Lorain County Dems hear options for elections board post; Inez James to get the spot in lieu of legal action

LORAIN — To sue or not to sue is up to the party boss, Lorain County Democratic leaders decided Thursday after considering whether to take a state official to court for rejecting Sharon Sweda for a post on the Lorain County Board of Elections. The party has several options after Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, a Republican, rejected Sharon Sweda for a position the Democratic party recommended she get on Jan. 31, Chairman Anthony Giardini told the party's Executive Committee. One, they can file a legal action with the Ohio Supreme Court to try and force LaRose to appoint the former Democratic county commissioner. And there was "pretty strong sentiment" in a room at The Shipyards in Lorain on Thursday to do just that, Giardini said. LaRose rejected Sweda's recommendation for the seat earlier this month over allegations she improperly used county resources during her failed election campaign in 2020. Sweda and her supporters deny the allegations. Filing a legal action stops the clock on LaRose appointing the member himself until a decision is made by the Ohio Supreme Court, Giardini said. Whether or not to file the legal action, with no financial backing from either the Ohio Democratic Party or from the Lorain County Democratic Party's own funds, is up to Giardini, the Executive Committee decided. If the Democrats win in court, Sweda will take her place on the elections board. If they lose in court, Inez James of Lorain will be the new name put forth to LaRose for appointment to the board. She and former Oberlin City Councilman Ronnie Rimbert were the two people nominated, with James defeating Rimbert by a vote of 48-24 after committee members cast their ballots Thursday. Two, Giardini also can decide not to sue, saving "three to six" months of time and many thousands of dollars in legal fees and put James' name forward to LaRose before today's deadline expires. If the Executive Committee had not chosen a new name by today, LaRose said he would choose a Democrat for them. "It's a rare occurrence when the secretary of state doesn't accept our recommendations," Giardini told the Executive Committee. Giardini said a writ of mandamus "means we are asking the Ohio Supreme Court to order the secretary of state to follow the law and accept our recommendation" of Sweda. Giardini, who is an attorney, put the party's chances of winning a mandamus action at "50-50" after consulting with a veteran election law attorney and an attorney for the Ohio Democratic Party, he said. He said he would make a decision on taking legal action by this afternoon. He told the committee he wasn't going to make a decision without their say-so or "if you have a strong objection." Committee member Joel Arredondo told the committee he was not in favor of legal action as it was not worth the time or money to pursue. Plus, "I think we have other candidates," he said. It was Arredondo who later nominated Rimbert to take Sweda's place. Other members spoke passionately in favor of legal action. Executive Committee member Kreig Brusnahan, who also is an attorney, told the committee that he put the chances of the party winning a mandamus action at "75 percent to 25 percent in our favor." "I would like this committee to authorize this," Brusnahan said, saying that the Democrats can't let Republicans "push us around." In Sweda, "we have a very good candidate who is very well-qualified," he said. "I'm all in" on fighting for Sweda, Michael Sherman told his fellow Executive Committee members. There is some precedent for legal action by a county political party to force the secretary of state to accept its recommendation. Giardini said the Ashtabula County Democratic Party sued LaRose in 2020 over his rejection of their candidate "based on unproven allegations" that were investigated by the sheriff's office there. The Ohio Supreme Court sided with LaRose in that situation, Giardini said. He said the state party is unable to help financially and that he didn't expect the county party to foot the bill for legal action. He said he would raise the money for the fight himself as well as contribute personally. "I'm the chair of the party, it's my responsibility," Giardini said. And if no legal action is taken today, "it'll be because it's not in the interest of our party," he said.Rimbert was not present at Thursday's meeting because of health reasons, though James did appear in person. The Executive Committee gave her a standing ovation when Giardini announced the results of the ballot. Giardini asked each permission to speak for them as Rimbert could not personally be present and they both agreed to allow him to give brief remarks about them prior to the Executive Committee's vote. James, the president of the Lorain chapter of the National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women's Clubs Inc., previously ran for Lorain City Council at-large in 2019 and has been an Ohio Turnpike Toll Plaza supervisor for more than 20 years. Rimbert, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, is a former Oberlin city councilman who served on that body from 1999 to 2019. Giardini called James "an unquestionably loyal Democrat." "I'm happy to have either one on the board," he said of the nominees, adding that Democrats were able to choose between "two African Americans, a man and a woman" to represent them on the board if Sweda's rejection ends up permanent. "Our party needs to be a little more diverse," Giardini said. "We need to get younger in terms of positions. It warms my heart we have two good people" who were nominated. The Democrats met in January and recommended Sweda's name to LaRose for appointment to a seat that was left open after Tom Smith resigned from the board of elections for health reasons. However, on March 3, LaRose announced he was rejecting Sweda's appointment over concerns that she used her county email to campaign for commissioner last year and that she allegedly used county employees for campaign purposes. Sweda and Giardini have said that while Sweda responded to emails regarding her campaign from her county email account, that shouldn't disqualify her from serving on the board of elections. Sweda has denied, and Giardini on Thursday called it "a falsehood," that she used county employees for campaign purposes last year. State Auditor Keith Faber's office has said it will raise the issue of the emails as part of Lorain County's 2020 audit. LaRose was scheduled to be the guest speaker at Thursday's meeting of the Avon-Avon Lake Republican Club at Red Tail Golf Club in Avon. Giardini also noted that Republican County Commissioner Dave Moore, who defeated Sweda in the November election, brought up the allegations against Sweda at a public commission meeting on Feb. 17 and that two weeks later LaRose issued his decision. Despite Moore's denial that he was the one who notified LaRose of the allegations against Sweda, Giardini said he wasn't convinced. "I don't believe in coincidences," he said. Moore, who previously denied to the Chronicle-Telegram that he told LaRose's office of the allegations against Sweda, could not be reached for comment Thursday. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com. Follow him @daveobrienCT on Twitter.