Lorain County Democrats accuse Recorder Mike Doran of 'hiding criminal past,' 'misleading voters'

With less than six days to go before Election Day, the Lorain County Democratic Party on Thursday accused county Recorder Mike Doran, a first-term Republican, of "deliberately conceal(ing) his extensive criminal past from voters." Among the allegations are that Doran changed his last name "in a blatant attempt to deceive the public and avoid accountability" and "to escape the reputation tied to his criminal record." Doran on Thursday confirmed that he formerly was known as Mike Fetterman until he changed it, and that he has a criminal record under that name in both the state of Wyoming and state of Washington. The convictions included assault in 2007 in Wyoming, theft and driving on a suspended license in 2007 in Washington state and various misdemeanor traffic charges in Oberlin and Elyria municipal courts between 2002 and 2012. None of the charges in Doran's criminal history were felonies, according to documents reviewed by The Chronicle-Telegram, and would not disqualify him from holding office under Ohio law. Doran said Thursday he has previously passed an FBI background check. The allegations came in a news release sent to The Chronicle-Telegram by Sharon Sweda, the county Democratic Party chairwoman. Sweda's party is backing Dawn Walther, a Democrat challenging Doran who was first elected in 2020. "Voters deserve transparency and honesty from their elected officials, yet Mike Doran has shown a complete disregard for these values," Sweda said. "Our community has the right to know who they are entrusting with sensitive records and taxpayer dollars, and the truth is that Mike Doran — also known as Mike Fetterman — is hiding a history of violence, dishonesty and reckless behavior." Democrats called on Doran "to address his criminal past honestly with the voters" as "changing his name cannot erase his history, nor does it absolve him of the responsibilities he owes to the people of Lorain County." In a statement Doran provided to The Chronicle on Thursday, he said the following: "Unfortunately, my opponent is resorting to misdirection and negativity to mislead Lorain County voters by obfuscating the facts instead of focusing on the needs of the community," Doran wrote. "Since I was elected recorder, we have upgraded the capabilities of our office to meet the needs of our citizens, including establishing credit card payments, scanning all unscanned deeds back to 1824, securing a '.gov' domain for our website, and veterans no longer need an appointment for their DD-214s." "These changes were made after closely listening to the feedback of the citizens of Lorain County. This is what we do: We engage with the will of the people and not the whims of partisan attacks," he wrote. "Lorain County deserves better. The people deserve better. They deserve an office that responds to their needs. That's what I've done since I was first elected county recorder and that's the job I'm going to continue to do." Doran filed a request to change his name from "Michael David Fetterman" to "Michael David Doran" in 2011 in Lorain County Probate Court, according to court records, and the request was approved. Reached for comment on the revelations about Doran's former name and criminal record, Walther on Thursday said she's focused "on running a positive campaign." "And the allegations if they're true are troubling, but I prefer to talk about what I'm going to do in the office as the recorder," she said. Putting out Mike Doran's record is "not a place I would go," Walther said. "I would like to remain positive. I feel that I'm doing fine at this point. People have been very positive toward me and supportive," she said. She said she can't speculate on why Mike Doran changed his name. Asked whether she had changed her name, as Lorain County Probate Court records indicate, Walther confirmed she had changed her name several times. "Because I did not like my first name," she said. "It's related to my childhood, which I'm not going to go into. That's the only reason." Police and court records reviewed by The Chronicle could not immediately be independently verified Thursday, but Doran did both verify and also challenge some of the allegations in them. Wyoming assault, 2007 The most-serious was an alleged "violent assault" case that was heard in 7th Judicial District Court in Natrona County, Wyoming, in 2007. Doran confirmed that incident happened when he went by Mike Fetterman. He said it involved his then-girlfriend, the mother of one of his children. A copy of a Casper, Wyoming, police report dated May 25, 2007, that was obtained by The Chronicle said two Casper officers responded just after 12:30 p.m. that day to a report that Fetterman/Doran was assaulting the female victim "and trying to break out her car windows." Fetterman/Doran, who was 23 at the time, left the scene before police arrived according to the alleged victim, who told police she was pregnant. He had been dropping off some of his property when the two argued about money, Fetterman/Doran got angry, twisted her arm behind her, and pushed her into the side of the car, the victim told police. She told officers she screamed for help "but he continued to restrain her against her will," took her car keys from her and locked them in the car, according to the report. Fetterman/Doran then shoved her against the car again, lifted her off the ground and onto the hood of the car, pinning her arms underneath her and lying on top of her so she couldn't move, she told police. The woman eventually ran to a neighbor's house and called 911. As she did, Fetterman/Doran allegedly was throwing rocks at her car and punching the car window. A witness who had been visiting Fetterman/Doran from another state saw part of the argument, and that "she thought (the victim) had slammed Mr. Fetterman's hand in the car door," according to the police report. The couple "started to 'wrestle around' and Mr. Fetterman had (the victim) pinned against the side of the car." "'It was kinda his fault, he could have left, but didn't,'" that woman told police. She confirmed other parts of the victim's story. The victim had redness on her arms, a bruise on her wrist she told police was from a medical treatment, and said her arm hurt where Fetterman/Doran twisted it. She declined medical attention, according to the report. Fetterman/Doran's statement to police was not included in the documents reviewed by The Chronicle, which could not independently verify their accuracy on Thursday. According to a summary of court records provided by the Democratic Party, Fetterman/Doran was convicted of assault, failed to pay fines, and might still have a warrant out for his arrest. "While I regret these things that happened, I do take responsibility for the things I did do," Doran said about the case on Thursday. Still, "there were aspects of that report that are not true," he said. "I don't deny we got into an argument and the neighbor called police," Doran said. "We were going through a rough time in our relationship. She had stolen money from me. I went out there and I yelled at her. I didn't hit her." Now 17 years later, Doran said the victim would confirm that he never hit her. She could not be reached for comment before deadline Thursday. Doran also said it wasn't true that there was still a warrant out for his arrest, pointing a Chronicle reporter to Natrona County Sheriff's Office warrant search database online. Neither "Fetterman" nor "Doran" returned any results when those names were searched in the online warrant database at warrants.natronacounty-wy.gov. Washington state theft, 2007 Also on Fetterman/Doran's record is theft conviction in December 2007 in the Everett Division of the Snohomish District Court in Snohomish County, Washington state. In that case, Doran was convicted of misdemeanor theft, sentenced to 365 days in jail, fined $5,000 and sentenced to two years of probation, according to the Democratic Party and court records reviewed by The Chronicle. All of the jail sentence and fine was suspended, according to the Washington State Patrol records provided to and reviewed by The Chronicle — records that could not be immediately, independently verified. Doran said there was an explanation involving a rented laptop computer and infidelity by his then-girlfriend. "A person rented a laptop. He was sleeping with my girlfriend and we argued at his house. I left his house, he called police and said I burglarized his house and took the laptop," Doran said Thursday. Doran said he was charged with "attempted theft," and that the fine in that case was suspended, he said. He said he didn't recall if his two-year probation ended early, but it was a form of probation where "I never had to report to anyone," Doran said. In August 2007, Mike Doran/Fetterman also as convicted of driving under suspension in Upper Kittitas District Court, also in Washington state. Doran confirmed that happened, also when he was known as Mike Fetterman. Lorain County traffic cases, 2002 to 2012 Doran's more-recently convictions are mostly traffic charges in Lorain County. They include a 2002 conviction for misdemeanor disorderly conduct and a 2003 conviction for no driver's license, both in Oberlin Municipal Court. Doran confirmed both happened. Then there are the Elyria Municipal Court records: The 2007 conviction in Elyria Municipal Court for no driver's license, for which Doran said did community service at the Lorain County APL; a 2011 misdemeanor no driver's license conviction in Elyria Municipal Court; and a 2012 conviction for misdemeanor disorderly conduct persisting that Doran said was reduced from a misdemeanor reckless operation charge after he was caught "driving a car offroad where I wasn't supposed to," he said Thursday. Doran said he never spent a day or night as an inmate in the Lorain County Jail in any of those cases. The John Gall incident Another allegation is one The Chronicle covered at length: A "recent assault allegation," in which "a county worker testified that Mike Doran punched him in the head." That refers to John Gall, a Republican and current administrative assistant to Republican county Commissioner Jeff Riddell, with whom Mike Doran and his wife, Christina, had a dispute in December 2023. According to Elyria police, the Lorain County Sheriff's Office, court records, court hearings and interviews with the parties involved, Mike and Christina Doran had an encounter with Gall on Dec. 7, 2023, following an ongoing parking dispute between Mike Doran and Gall over parking spaces at the Lorain County Administration parking garage in Elyria. The parking feud culminated in Gall and his wife following the Dorans' cars in the direction of the Dorans' Elyria home on Dec. 7, 2023. When the Dorans stopped to see who was following them, Gall also stopped. That's when Gall alleged Mike Doran punched him through the open window of his car. Both sides declined to press charges over the incident. Instead, Christina Doran sought a civil stalking protection order against Gall in Common Pleas Court. Magistrate John Gill denied her one in May. Gill was tasked with deciding if Gall's behavior on Dec. 7, 2023, met the definition of menacing by stalking under Ohio law. In his nine-page decision, he ruled it did not. Sweda said the entirety of Mike Doran's record proves that Lorain County "deserves better than a leader who would deceive the public and hide from accountability," said Sweda. "Mike Doran's attempt to run from his past is an insult to the trust voters place in their public servants. We urge all voters to look closely at the facts and demand integrity from those in public office." In a phone interview Thursday, Sweda said the rumors about Doran's name change and criminal record "had been in the rumor mill for a long time." "We always had an interest in what those stories would ultimately reveal, and upon the revelation of what the backstory was, we couldn't control when we learned of it, but we think people are entitled to know those things," she said. Sweda said it's about transparency. "It was a situation where we now have the data that supports and substantiates these claims, and felt it was important for voters and the general public (Mike Doran) serves to know that he is not a law-abiding person according to his past," she said. In response to the Democratic Party's news release, Lorain County Republican Party Chairman Bob Meilander said in a written statement to The Chronicle that he was "compelled to address the recent allegations" against Mike Doran by the county Democratic Party, "just five days prior to the election." "At this time, I have not been presented with any verified documentation sustaining chairwoman Sharon Sweda's assertions," Meilander wrote. "The timing of these claims raises a significant question regarding intent and suggests and attempt to unduly influence voters. Lorain County residents deserve transparent, credible discourse rather than uncorroborated allegations aimed at diversion." "If Ms. Sweda wishes to engage in a substantive discussion of issues, we could consider the matters surrounding her own endorsed candidates, who drove his wife's truck into a fuel pump earlier this year and now requires a Breathalyzer to operate his vehicle, just to name their most recent issue" Meilander wrote, referencing Lorain City Councilman Tony Dimacchia's, D-at Large, conviction in June on a misdemeanor DUI charge in Lorain Municipal Court. "Lorain County citizens are entitled to leadership-grounded integrities, not last-minute posturing," Meilander wrote. Dimacchia is challenging Republican Marty Gallagher to replace Commissioner Michelle Hung, a Republican, on the Lorain County Board of Commissioners. Dimacchia has apologized for his behavior. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.