Background
Nathan Manning won the Republican primary for Ohio House District 52. After a Ninth District Court of Appeals judge retired midterm, Governor Mike DeWine appointed Manning to the vacant judgeship until a successor could be elected. Manning then withdrew from the House race, and a Republican Party district committee selected him as its candidate to fill the remainder of the judicial term at the November 2026 general election.
Elector Mark Derrig challenged Manning’s placement on the ballot. He argued that R.C. 3513.31(I) barred the party committee from selecting Manning because Manning had already been nominated in a primary for a different office. The Summit County Board of Elections split evenly, and Secretary of State Frank LaRose broke the tie in Manning’s favor. Derrig sought mandamus ordering election officials to remove Manning from the ballot.
The Court’s Holding
The Supreme Court of Ohio denied the writ. It held that R.C. 3513.31(I)’s prohibition applies when someone has been nominated in a primary for the same vacant unexpired office that the party committee seeks to fill—not when the proposed candidate was nominated for a different office.
Reading the statute in context, the court concluded that the provision prevents a party committee from replacing a primary winner for the vacant office with a committee-selected candidate. It rejected Derrig’s broader reading as inconsistent with the statute’s text and related election laws. The court also held that Derrig had standing as an elector and that Manning had not established prejudice sufficient to support laches.
Key Takeaways
- R.C. 3513.31(I) does not bar a party committee from selecting a candidate merely because that person was previously nominated for another office.
- The statute protects a primary nomination for the vacant office at issue from being displaced by a party committee selection.
- An elector may seek mandamus over alleged election-law violations, and a candidate’s litigation burden alone does not establish laches prejudice.
Why It Matters
The decision clarifies Ohio’s procedure for filling ballot vacancies for unexpired terms. Party committees may select a person who had been nominated for another office, subject to other statutory restrictions, when no primary nominee exists for the vacant office.