By SUZANNE DOWNING
April 13, 2026 – The US Supreme Court last weekUS declined to intervene in an Ohio election dispute, allowing state officials to keep a congressional candidate off the Republican primary ballot after questions arose about whether he was genuinely a member of the party.
At issue is Sam Ronan, an Air Force veteran who sought to run as a Republican in Ohio’s 15th Congressional District, a seat currently held by Mike Carey. The district, which stretches from the suburbs of Columbus, favored Donald Trump by roughly nine points in the 2024 election, making it solidly Republican territory.
Ronan’s candidacy was challenged by a voter who argued that he was “not in fact a Republican.” The Franklin County Board of Elections split evenly on the matter, sending the decision to Frank LaRose, who ultimately broke the tie and ordered Ronan removed from the ballot.
The controversy stems in part from Ronan’s political history. In 2017, he ran for chair of the Democratic National Committee and, according to filings by the state, openly promoted a strategy of running Democrats as Republicans in conservative districts. That record became central to the legal argument that Ronan could not, in good faith, attest to supporting Republican Party principles, a requirement under Ohio law for candidates seeking to run in a party primary.
Ronan challenged his removal in federal court, arguing that it violated his First Amendment rights by punishing him for his political speech. But both a US district court and the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit rejected his claims, finding that states have broad authority to regulate their primary elections and require candidates to act in good faith when affiliating with a political party.
In a last-ditch effort, Ronan appealed to the US Supreme Court, seeking an emergency injunction to restore his name to the ballot before early voting began. The Court declined.
Ronan still has options, including running as an independent.
The case underscores a broader tension within American politics: who gets to define party identity, and how far states can go in policing it. Courts have generally sided with states’ authority to impose order and prevent what they see as manipulation of the electoral process.
In Alaska, political observers have long noted a strain of candidates who adopt Republican labels while advancing positions more closely aligned with Democrats or independent coalitions. The state’s unique election system, combining jungle primaries with ranked-choice voting, further blurs traditional party lines, making questions of political identity more fluid.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski has been shunned, sanctioned, and censured by the Republican Party but still is able to retain her registration as a Republican. Others, such as state Sen. Kelly Merrick, are also not welcome in the party but retain the label, while putting Democrats in power in Juneau. House Rep. Louise Stutes of Kodiak has long followed the same playbook.
7 thoughts on “Ohio ballot fight echoes Alaska’s problem with ‘Republicans in name only’”
There are times I wonder what Anchorage Districts that are dominated Democrat if its election was inundated by residents who registered themselves as Democrat just to run as a Democrat against the Democrat incumbents. What would the AK Democrat party do?
If Anchorage gets mad as it is madness of living under Democrats would likely enter into peoples hearts that we could see 10 downtown neighbors resorting to all running as a Democrat, or West Anchorage, or East Anchorage, or District 20 or Senate J challenging all one another confusing the voters
And the neighbors do it every election
And they are just anyone not necessarily a Democrat
Ten “democrat” candidates run for Assembly and legislative seats just to give the democrats a taste of their own medicine
This last Anchorage municipal election. The candidates were close and if there were nine other neighbors registered as Democrats granted there only being one Republican, the nine “democrats” may had peeled away votes from today’s winner because there are always voters who don’t know the candidate they just vote for a candidate from tradition and superficial knowledge
It may had given the Republican candidate winning number of votes granted that there is only one and his neighbors vote in lock step not being confused by that many D’s on the ballot
I’m just saying if Dustin Darden could get over 5,000 neighbors votes and an unfamiliar candidate csn gather 200-500 votes then how would elections be if Ten candidates registered as a Democrat in an Assembly race or Legislative race gather away from a Democrat? While there is one lone Republican (if he is lucky) because he and his voters may have to fight against a Democrat jumping in as a Republican to confuse.
It’ll definitely make the R an D candidates work harder of th Democrat saw ten other neighbors jumped into the race as a Democrat
If you go to Sam Ronan’s website he is your typical run of the mill deviant marxist. Looks like his boyfriend is standing next to him in the campaign photo.
Why such people can join the military is beyond me.
We missed a great opportunity to show Senator Lisa Murkowski true colors. After she lost to fellow Republican Joe Miller she became an independent write in. Most of her campaign was helping folks learn how spell her name as a write in. Between that and promises to the native village population lost of help, plus the fact of the abrasive campaign Joe Miller ran, she won. During the campaign anyone helping with her campaign was removed from the party leadership, both SEC and SCC. Magically after the results those folks slipped back into their positions and Lisa went to DC waving the Republican name. The whole process was one stinky mess. It really is understandable why many registered voters changed to a N or I. Believe me we were tempted.