Board splits on candidate’s residency, kicks it to Husted

The Franklin County Board of Elections split along party lines Wednesday on a challenge to the residency of a Republican candidate for the Ohio House.

The two Republican members voted to deny the move against Bobby Mitchell, R-Canal Winchester, with member Bradley Sinnott saying that there was no clear and convincing evidence presented that the candidate wasn’t living in the apartment listed on his voter registration.

The two Democrats on the board supported the challenge, saying the evidence submitted and common sense persuaded them that Mitchell actually lived at an address outside the 20th House District, the legislative seat he is seeking.

The tie vote sends the matter to Republican Secretary of State Jon Husted for his consideration and creates an interesting scenario — Husted determining a residency question for a candidate already certified for the ballot and potentially having to refer to a nearly decade-old Ohio Supreme Court decision dealing with a challenge to his own residency at the time.

Mitchell is running against Rep. Richard Brown, D-Canal Winchester, who was appointed to the position in June 2017, replacing Rep. Heather Bishoff, D-Blacklick, who moved out of state. The 20th District includes parts of eastern and southeastern Franklin County, including Canal Winchester, Groveport, Obetz, Reynoldsburg and Whitehall.

The residency challenge was brought by Leonardo Almeida, who lives in the same Canal Winchester apartment complex as the one listed as Mitchell’s voting address.

Mitchell moved into the apartment in October and changed his voter registration address in early November, in time to qualify to run for the 20th District House seat.

Almeida alleged Mitchell actually lived in a house elsewhere in Canal Winchester owned by his wife but located in Fairfield County, and thus was not a valid elector in Franklin County.

Almeida told the elections board that he looked but did not see Mitchell’s cars in the vicinity of the apartment complex, nor any lights on at the listed address. He kept a log tracking days he said Mitchell was not at the residence.

But Mitchell said, “I spend most nights there,” noting that the address listed on his voter registration was closer to the church he pastors.

Mitchell, who also owns a car dealership and runs a food pantry, said he typically works from 7 or 7:30 a.m. until midnight. Because of his business, he said he often drives different vehicles home and not the ones mentioned by Almeida.

After Wednesday’s tie vote, Franklin County Board of Elections Director Edward Leonard said the panel would forward Mitchell’s challenge to Husted, likely in the next week. Either side could then seek further redress, via the Ohio Supreme Court.

In 2009, Husted, who had ended his term as Ohio House speaker and was elected to the Ohio Senate, had his residency challenged, with questions about whether he lived at the Montgomery County address listed on his voter registration or at a home owned by his wife in the Columbus area.

After a tie elections board vote, then-Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, a Democrat, concluded Husted was not a resident of Montgomery County.

Husted challenged that decision in the Ohio Supreme Court, which subsequently sided with him.