Lorain County Democrats file in court to force LaRose to accept Sweda appointment

Lorain County Democrats are taking Secretary of State Frank LaRose before the Ohio Supreme Court to try and force him to appoint their chosen candidate, Sharon Sweda, to the county Board of Elections. Party Chairman Anthony Giardini confirmed Friday that his party will proceed with a mandamus action to try and force LaRose to appoint Sweda, a former Democratic county commissioner, to the seat vacated by the resignation of former board member Tom Smith. Democrats chose Sweda in January, and LaRose rejected her appointment over allegations that she improperly used her county email for campaign purposes and had county employees work on her campaign while on county time in 2020. Sweda and Giardini have denied any wrongdoing on her behalf — admitting only that she responded to a few emails via her county email. Giardini said attorneys working for the party were to file the action before the close of business Friday. The legal action should stop the clock and any further action by LaRose until the Ohio Supreme Court reaches a decision, Giardini said. After Sweda's appointment was rejected March 3, Democrats had up until Friday to name a replacement candidate or else LaRose said he would choose for them. A mandamus action is filed to force an official to do their legally mandated duties. This action will go before the Ohio Supreme Court and could take three to six months to be resolved. "After a considerable amount of discussion this morning with our lawyers, we finally decided that was the appropriate thing to do based on the pretty strong opinions of quite a few of the executive committee members, if for no other reason than to try to clear (Sweda's) name and to send a message to Commissioner (Dave) Moore that he ought to get off these personal attacks on (Sweda) and get on to the business of the county," Giardini said Friday. "The election's over," he added in response to Moore's Feb. 17 public criticism of Sweda's appointment in a county commission meeting, which Giardini called "grandstanding." The Democrats will be represented before the state high court by attorney Don McTigue of the Columbus-based law firm of McTigue & Colombo, which specializes in elections law matters. If the Democrats win their court fight, Sweda will be named to the Board of Elections. The county party's Executive Committee voted Thursday to put forward Inez James of Lorain as a replacement candidate for LaRose's consideration in the event the case is lost. LaRose is a Republican, but Giardini stressed Friday that he doesn't believe the secretary of state's decision was politically motivated. "I think he looked at these news reports (on the Sweda controversy) and other things and concluded there was a problem," he said. "I disagree with his conclusion because I don't think he got an accurate representation from those reports. I have a great deal of respect for him, he's probably one of the better secretaries of state in the country, but on this issue our committee strongly disagrees that (Sweda) is not competent enough to be a good Board of Elections member." The political motivation rests with Moore, Giardini said, who put "information in the public domain that wasn't accurate and it reflected badly on Sharon." Giardini has said that he doesn't think Sweda replying to constituents who asked questions about her campaign using her county email is enough to disqualify her from serving on the Board of Elections. He has called Moore's allegations that she had county employees working for her campaign on county time "falsehoods." The Chronicle-Telegram reached out to Moore for comment on Giardini's remarks Friday. Boards of elections in Ohio must have four members, including two Democrats and two Republicans, and the president of the board is required to be of the opposite party of the elections director. Giardini said he wasn't worried about being down one member on the board while the matter is resolved. He said he and Republican board members Marilyn Jacobcik and Jack Baird get along well and are focused on running "a fair election" rather than partisan politics. "I have no qualms about working with Republicans on the Board of Elections," he said. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com. Follow him @daveobrienCT on Twitter.