Heavey won’t be on Democratic ballot

Cleveland doctor Jon Heavey won’t be on the ballot for the May 8 Democratic gubernatorial primary, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

Heavey had mounted a last-minute bid to gather signatures and be placed on the ballot in an already crowded field. But several county boards of elections threw out signatures, saying some were illegible, others couldn’t be matched to those of registered voters and still others appeared not to have been written by the person they purported to represent. The disqualifications left Heavey 146 signatures short of the 1,000 he needed to qualify.

In the 6-0 ruling, the Supreme Court justices ruled that Heavey did not provide clear evidence that a sufficient number of disqualified signatures were thrown out improperly.

For example, Heavey and his running mate, Adam Hudak, claimed that the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections improperly threw out 32 signatures because they were printed on the petition, but in cursive on voterregistration forms. However, he didn’t provide those forms to the court, “meaning they have not even proven that there was a print/cursive mismatch,” the court wrote.

“Heavey and Hudak have not shown, by clear and convincing evidence, a legal right to have their names placed on the May 8 ballot,” the ruling said. “As previously stated, even if they made the required showing as to all the remaining signatures, it would be insufficient to qualify them for the ballot.”

Justice Pat DeWine, son of Attorney General Mike DeWine, a GOP candidate for governor, did not participate in the decision.

Heavey, a Cleveland Clinic physician and venture capitalist, had said he was going Heavey to put $1.5 million of his own money into the race.

He said in a statement: “The two parties are trying to anoint their candidates so it’s not your vote that counts, it’s who counts the votes. But we are not owned and operated like insider politicians, and they know it.”

Secretary of State Jon Husted said the ruling is simply more evidence that Heavey failed to properly qualify himself as a candidate.

“The Supreme Court unanimously confirmed what I and the bipartisan boards of elections around the state had earlier concluded, that Mr. Heavey failed to reach the minimum signature requirement and, as a result, did not qualify as a candidate,” Husted said in a statement.

Heavey and Hudak promised a joint statement after the holiday weekend to announce their plans to continue their fight.