I filed for Congress on Monday, by noon Tuesday 98 of 108 signatures were good, which should put me on the ballot.

Today, everyone else filed. And, wholly crap- talk about a need for a voter information system. For Congress, we now have 8 choices if the Board of (S)elections approves all the petitions on Tuesday, February 17, 2026 at 8:30 a.m..

The only two guaranteed so far are Manuel Foggie- a cincy resident running as a D (yes- it's allowed- Amy Cox didn't live in the district either). and Mike Turner.

The rest of the field- is me and then:

DEM Janice C. Beckett 9701 Rockside Dr. Centerville 45458- born in 1960, only voted since 2020 in Montgomery County. Registered as a dem.
DEM Manuel Foggie 7744 Stillwell Rd. Apt. 2 Cincinnati 45237
DEM Jan Kinner 4808 Laurelann Dr. Kettering 45429 - voted R a few times. born in 1954 Worked at the base- was in the AF as an officer.
DEM Kristina Knickerbocker 2678 Sutton Rd. Yellow Springs 45387 Never voted as a Dem- born in
DEM Tony Pombo 2408 Pine Knott Dr. Beavercreek 45431 born in 1972, Spotty voter record since 2013. Ran in 2024 in the 4 way primary. Came in 3rd.
LIB Thomas F. McMasters 6934 Sylmar Ct. Huber Heights 45424 has voted as a D in the past. Served as Mayor of Huber for an embattled term.Born in 1962- so he's around 63-64 just like me. Was an AF officer.

So the dems will have a 6 way primary. And there is still room for an independent to get 4000 signatures to run like Michael Harbaugh did last time.

To me, the more interesting challenges are for Dem Party leadership. This is party reorg time, and if you want to see the friends and family in full tilt- this is it.

Member of State Central Cmt 5th District (Dem)- Man (1)
DEM David Cox 330 E. Main St. Eaton 45320 2
DEM Mat Heck, Jr. On File 2/4/2026
Member of State Central Cmt 5th District (Dem)- Woman (1)
DEM Amy Cox 330 E. Main St. Eaton 45320
DEM Dolores Gillis 546 Michael Pl. Tipp City 45371
Member of State Central Cmt 6th District (Dem)- Man (1)
DEM Joseph Abrams 117 Park Dr. Dayton 45410
DEM Mark E. Owens 3927 Saddleridge Cir. Dayton 45424
Member of State Central Cmt 6th District (Dem)- Woman (1)
DEM Chrisondra Goodwine 1831 Kensington Dr. Dayton 45406
DEM Nan Whaley 217 Wroe Ave. Dayton 45406 2/4/2026

Usually these folks are ALWAYS unopposed- but the progressive Dems seem to want to upset the status quo. Amy and David Cox are taking on the establishment (although I'm not familar with Dolores Gillis.

My neighbor, Joe Abrams is taking on the evil empire's back room emereror- Mat Heck.serf, Mark Owens (former party chair (and Dayton Clerk of courts) who was deposed after he sponsored smear mail against democrats Darryl Fairchild and Shenise Turner Sloss- after that- he should have been evicted from party property)

And my least favorite person in office right now, Dr. Chrisondra Goodwine, MPA, VIP, HMFIC, School bus driver, JD, MBA, CRA, FOS- has found an even worse opponent- Nan Whaley, so I'll be voting Goodwine.

We seriously need to clean house of all these back room monsters who've been destroying the party for decades.

But wait, there's trouble in MAGA house too!

Member of State Central Cmt 6th District (Rep)- Woman (1)
REP Lisa Foley 200 W Thruston Blvd. Dayton 45419
REP Missy Mae Walters 2200 Far Hills Ave. Dayton 45419
REP Raya Whalen 143 Wisteria Dr. Dayton 45419

Yes- that's the Felon Mike Foley's crying wife Lisa running for State Central Committee against Missy Mae (not her legal name- but apparently it's ok for party people to run with any name they want now). Miss Walters currently works for County Treasurer John McManus as his PR person. Walters was the brains behind the takeover of the Republican party by the Tea Party with her then boyfriend Rob Scott- who got to be R-chair for about a year before they ejected him. He was on Kettering Council where he enacted term limits and a cut in pay- then ran Trump's Ohio campaign in 2016- which got him a big job at the SBA- and Missy Mae a job with the dept of Ag. Rob is now Kettering Clerk of Courts.

I don't know anything about Whalen yet.

Then there's the audacity of someone to run against auditor for life, Karl Keith.

DEM Karl Keith 221 Watervliet Ave. Dayton 45420 9/23/2025
REP Tammy L. Murphy 8951 Deep Forest Ln. Centerville 45458

I've known Tammy for a long time, and she has been a client of The Next Wave (my ad agency). She's a Realtor/broker who specializes in military relocation and has been very active in the Dayton Board of Realtors leadership. She's also the one who introduced me to Blue Star Mothers of America, which is one of the best veteran and active duty member support groups I've encountered. She was President and has served in leadership. This was a total surprise.

After Jordan Wortham nearly beat County Commissioner Carolyn Rice last time, people must have smelled blood in the water. Wortham spent nothing- $15K - and did not much, and won on election night by 1500 votes, only to later lose by just enough votes to not require a re-count with absentee etc. Statistically implausible- but- since we keep the BOE in the basement and stock it with partisan hacks- anything is possible - including this insanity - where I caught my father living in 2 different precincts in the same house back in 2014.

Here's the pre-BOE winnowing field:
County Commissioner (1) Term Begins 1/1/2027
DEM Carolyn Rice 1135 Green Tree Dr. Kettering 45429
IND Michael Charles King Jr. 6110 Rivercliff Ln. West Carrollton 45449
REP Margie Christie 5074 Benner Rd. Miamisburg 45342
REP Lori Kennedy 660 Saddlewood Ave. Dayton 45459
REP Norman J. Scearce 5636 Westcreek Dr. Trotwood 45426
REP Jordan Wortham 1137 Irving Ave. Dayton 45419

I don't have time to do all the research on this horse race right now, but note- Margie Christie has a site up- and was the former head of Right To Life here.

Norman Scearce has run before. He's served on the Trotwood School board- and is good friends with County Commissioner Mary McDonald. He's also the savior of a church that was going to be torn down- and where the Treasurer- John McManus, is trying to collect back taxes/fines/fees that Trotwood City Manager Quincy Pope had promised to clear. Norman is also a friend and client.

The wrench in the system is that Phil Plummer talked Lori Kennedy, your current County Recorder of just 2 years, to run from her protected seat. He thinks because she beat Stacy Benson Taylor- who ran a horrible campaign, that the "Kennedy" name is somehow golden and dems will vote for her instead of Carolyn.
I'll get back to this race later.

This race is a crime scene:
State Representatives-40th District (1)
DEM Timothy B. Hornbacker-Write-In 11868 State Route 121 N. New Paris 45347
LIB Joshua A. Umbaugh 737 E. Pearl St. Miamisburg 45342
REP Rodney Creech 5062 Bantas Creek Rd. West Alexandria 45381
REP J. Todd Smith 5037 Diamond Mill Rd. Germantown 45327

How did the Dem already end up as a write in? This is an example of the failings of the Dem party to prepare and field candidates.

We already know about Creech the reputed creeper. And J. Todd Smith has run a bunch of times, including once against John Boehner.who was the Speaker of the House way back then. Boehner is now a cannabis lobbyist. And, the R's have been smoking dope, because they forced out Ryan Colvin from running. Ryan who serves on Miamisburg Council and was in this race, was told to drop out so Phil Plummer could run un-opposed for State Senator- 5th Dist, and let Creech win. Colvin is good people. The rest are something else.

The big bombshell- and this is where Esrati will piss some friends and foes off.

If you've read this blog for a bit, you'll know that I have no love for Probate Court Judge David Brannon and his magistrate Lisa Wiseman, after what they did to the veteran I took care of for 8 years.In fact, almost a year after the VA asked the courts to dissolve my legal POA that they thought was still in effect, and I contested the guardianship that Wiseman assigned, we were just in court 2 weeks ago- trying to solve the problem with a visiting Judge.

The guardian Wiseman assigned is a wonderful human being, William Miller, esq. But, he lives South of Town, and he never could or would do what I used to do for the veteran- give him his meds 2x a day. So for the last two years- the Veteran has been left to suffer.

After court, Miller and I were standing on the courthouse steps- when Brannon and Wiseman walked out of the back of the courts together to go to lunch. I yelled "Hi David" to Brannon- who pre-judge arrogance, I used to eat lunch with every 3 months or so. Wiseman turned and waved- Brannon ignored me, so I yelled again- and was ignored again.

Fast forward to today. I would have had this post done a lot earlier, but I was picking up the veteran from the VA- his 2nd admission in a week. He's become diabetic- and has no clue on how to manage it- or his psych meds. Miller and I asked the VA NOT to discharge him on his own- saying he needed to be in a skilled care facility- to monitor his food, teach him how to live with a continuous glucose meter and administer insulin etc. On Monday- we delayed, today they kicked him out. His house is still a sty- and there's no way he could manage this. I picked him up at 4:30. We went to dinner at 6- for a keto plate full of delicous brisket at Prime BBG Smokehouse on Brown Street (yes, shameless plug- it's SOooooooo good).

Then from 7 until 10:40 pm- I organized meds, installed a Libre 3, tested his blood sugar- and had to run back to the VA because I had insulin pens- but no needles. I also had to update his phone, install monitoring apps and do laundry. He's going to live at my house and eat with me for a few weeks until we get his blood sugar down under 200. Both times he was hospitalized it was over 500- and the first time 850!

Now you know why I think David Brannon and his crew suck at Probate. But, it's not only me. It's people who work for or worked for him who think he's bipolar. It's the legal community who practice in probate where they are less than impressed with his skills- and they got a candidate to run against him- something that NEVER happens in Montgomery County where Judges may as well be on the Supreme Court - for life- since the dem's and the Republicans worked a deal a long time ago.

Cassandra Rice (no relation to Carolyn) had the gaul to file to run against Brannon. I met her Saturday. We talked, I'm impressed. Brannon is scared shitless. He spent about a quarter mill of his own money 4 years ago to beat a hapless old dem out of a last hurrah attempt at a retirement job. Now, he'd be facing a real opponent.

Now, this is the part that puts me on the hot seat. This is why half of you hate me and half love me, and half of you won't say anythin (and yes, I know my math is a joke).

Mike Wright is a friend of David Brannon. Mike Wright is a friend of mine- or will be until I post this. Mike Wright could have run for any judgeship as a dem and won. He gave a lot of money to the dem party ($70K plus last time) and he thinks that he should be able to tell them not to challenge his friend Brannon. The fact is, all this backroom choosing of who to endorse - instead of just trying to support any dem running and letting voters choose is the NUMBER ONE PROBLEM IN OUR COUNTRY.

If you ask me- Trump wouldn't have been president a second time if the Dems had a primary in 2024 and the people picked Harris- or anyone else, but they weren't given a choice. We're in the same boat here.

Brannon is so desperate to keep his job, which he believes he's doing great at, that he asked his buddy to fix this for him- so Wright filed to run. To clear the primary field- and then, to either beat Brannon- and rehire him as a second judge instead of 5 magistrates- or to drop out and let Brannon run unopposed. Slight spoiler- I've been told if a dem drops out after winning the primary, the party gets to choose a replacement- and it might be Cassandra Rice- who would then have to scramble.

This is wrong. While Wright may be in probate court in a lot of his wrongful death cases (like the killing of Christian Black in the Montgomery County Jail) I doubt he's ready to take a pay cut from settling for a third of $7M, to living on a judges measly $200K a year (if that- although there is something about raising judges pay in the Statehouse right now).

And here's the thing, the other problem with running against a sitting judge- is guess what, you still have to practice in front of them, and judges like Brannon will make your life miserable. Just remember, we've gotten some real winners like Judge Dick Skelton who was forced to retire for his bad behavior and same for Judge James Piergies who was involved in the Foley scandal.

Remember I told you that we had a visiting judge in the case of my veteran. Judge Margaret Clark from Brown County was a breath of fresh air. It seemed in our pretrial conference and again in court, that she was there honestly trying to solve a serious problem, not to whip her dick out and slam it on the dais instead of using a gavel.

In the first pretrial conference with Miller and Brannon- at one point, Brannon said something like "Shut up David, I don't even know why you are in this conference." Miller was telling Brannon that he no longer wanted to be guardian of person, and that he couldn't make enough money off my veteran. It was then, that I reached out ex-parte, and Brannon had to relegate the case to a visiting judge.

I'm sure Mike Wright will be pissed at me. Luckily, Brannon has nothing to do with the veteran currently sleeping in my guest bedroom anymore. And, even more luckily, I'm not a lawyer who has to practice in front of these folks. I just have to go to the Supreme Court to make sure our State Constitution still means something- and that us common folks can stop corrupt politicians (and Judges) from getting away with dirty deals anymore.

That's 2545 words, it's well past midnight, I'm beat and that's the dirty little secrets of politics as polluted in Montgomery County.

If you want someone to go to DC and clean up that cesspool by fearlessly exposing the dirty underbelly- consider being one of the early donors to my Congressional campaign- the donation page is now up.

Here's the complete list of the Candidates for Montgomery County from the Board of (S)elections.

And one last thing...
there will be 4 candidates for my dem precinct 1-E captain spot.
The Dems have old school former Montgomery County Treasurer has come back from his exile in Columbus since 2007. Matt Klempner, who lives a few doors away- and signed my petition for congress, who works in the Board of Elections. Robert Holt, who lives around the corner and me.