Friday, September 26, 2008
The attempt by David Aey to become eligible to run as a write-in candidate for Mahoning County sheriff is a never-ending story.
Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner ruled Monday that Aey can run even though he was disqualified as a candidate in the Democrat primary for the post by the Ohio Supreme Court.
Brunner’s interpretation of an October 2007 Ohio Supreme Court decision and what she says is unclear language in state law makes Aey eligible to run as a write-in.
The county elections board was to meet today to determine if Aey had at least two years of post-secondary education needed to be a candidate for the seat.
By all accounts, the board was going to certify Aey as a candidate at that meeting.
After much resistance, his attorneys provided a transcript last week from Jefferson Community College showing Aey had 60 credit hours. That is more than what’s needed to meet the education requirement.
The transcript included 18 credit hours for life experiences.
Aey received 16 credit hours from JCC for taking basic courses at the Steubenville school this past summer.
The rest are credits Aey received from Youngstown State University and Kaplan University, an accredited online school.
The Mahoning County Board of Elections allowed the attorney for incumbent Sheriff Randall Wellington, who is questioning Aey’s eligibility, time to review the transcript.
That time was to be up today.
But that meeting was canceled.
To clear up the college credit issue, the elections board will reopen Aey’s eligibility hearing Tuesday and hear testimony about the credit hours.
The elections board has a certified transcript from JCC stating Aey has 60 credit hours. A transcript from an accredited university showing a sheriff candidate has met the state’s minimum education requirement should be enough to satisfy the board.
I understand a bit of the skepticism.
When Aey filed paperwork with the elections board to run for sheriff in the Democratic primary, he included an “associates degree” from Belford University, an unaccredited online diploma mill.
JCC is different. As I mentioned, it’s an accredited university.
The board wants to get this issue resolved, but its hands are tied. The secretary of state and the county prosecutor’s office have advised the board to continue last week’s hearing before making a decision.
The board is going to restrict the testimony, but the legitimacy of Aey’s credit hours will be scrutinized.
All of this is a waste of time because regardless of how the board decides, this is going to court.
It’s rather strange that both sides are battling over this issue. Obviously, it’s personal between Wellington and Aey.
But the reality is this is a write-in candidate.
Aey has a strong following and he definitely would have given Wellington a battle during the Democratic primary.
As a write-in candidate, I don’t see how he wins. This isn’t Charlie Wilson. Aey’s not going to spend $600,000 of his own money on this race, as Wilson did when he ran for Congress. Also unlike Wilson, Aey’s not going to get $500,000 from national Democrats to run against Wellington.
On the flip-side, Wellington is fighting to keep voters from writing in Aey’s name. His supporters say Wellington is doing it out of the belief that Aey isn’t qualified and it’s his obligation to get the former deputy disqualified.
If Aey gets on the ballot, he’ll get more votes than a typical write-in candidate, but he’s not going to win.
So why can’t the two just let this go?