Republican AG candidate told he will not be on the ballot vs. anti-gun Mike DeWine

By Chad D. Baus

Gun owners and other voters opposed to the resurgence of Mike DeWine in Ohio politics have been put on quite a roller-coaster ride in recent weeks.

On January 25, Ohio GOP chair Kevin DeWine worked to orchestrate an unopposed primary for his anti-gun cousin Mike by enticing pro-gun candidate Dave Yost to drop out of the race for Attorney General.

Less than two weeks later, on February 8, pro-gun Hardin County attorney Steve Christopher announced his own grassroots campaign, buoying the hopes of DeWine opponents. The late entry gave Christopher just ten days to collect the 1000 valid signatures necessary to get his name on the ballot.

Proof of just how much grassroots opposition Mike DeWine has came as volunteers responded to the call. The Christopher campaign announced that more than 2,700 signatures had been collected and turned in by the Feb. 18 filing deadline.

News came over this past weekend, however, that the roller coaster has taken another nasty turn.

According to the Dayton Daily News, Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner has released the names of candidates that will appear on the May primary ballot, and Christopher's name is not among them.

According to Brunner, county boards of elections received just 788 total signatures from Christopher's campaign, and that 638 were valid.

From SteveChristopher.org:

Last evening, my husband received unofficial word that of the over 2,700 signatures that he turned in on his petitions to get him on the ballot for Ohio Attorney General, over 2,000 of them were deemed "invalid" by Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner. I think you would agree that this is highly unprecedented.

At this time, we are optimistically waiting to review and audit the signatures. We have not received any official word regarding the validity of the signatures. We will be conducting an internal audit and verification to vet the signatures we did obtain. At the time that we vet the signatures and obtain official word on why the signatures were rejected, we will make a determination and advise everyone as to the direction we will take.

According to the Daily News, there was no word over the weekend on what happened to the other 2000 signatures, or why they are not even recorded as having been received by Brunner. A spokesperson for Brunner promised to provide answers this week.

In an email to supporters about this turn of events, Christopher is quoted as saying that he "will not roll over and meekly accept Secretary Brunner's assertion. Fortunately, we kept copies of all of the petitions we filed. We will attempt to verify the disputed signatures and explore the legal options available for us to contest the Secretary of State's ruling – which, oddly enough, reinstates the former status quo of leaving Mike DeWine unopposed."

Unless Christopher is able to overcome this latest hurdle, it seems gun owners' last, best chance to defeat Mike DeWine will come by voting for Democrat Richard Cordray in November.

Voters who oppose anti-gun Mike DeWine's candidacy can also help by telling family, friends, neighbors and anyone else who will listen that if they cherish their Second Amendment freedoms, they will do everything in their power to ensure that Mike DeWine is permanently retired from politics in the Buckeye State.

Download this flyer. Forward this op-ed. Discuss it any time you're with a group of people. If Ohio gun owners don't stand up to this threat, they'll live to regret it.

Chad Baus is a Member of the Fulton County, OH, Republican Central Committee and Vice Chairman of Buckeye Firearms Association.