The smell of blood atracts a crowd to the Ohio-10 race, including David Esrati

I don’t have the official list of candidates for the new Congressional District OH-10, made up of OH-3 currently held by Republican Mike Turner and OH-7 currently held by Steve Austria, but if the Montgomery County Board of Elections approves all petitions turned in as of 3:45pm today (that’s 15 minutes before deadline) there will be 4 Republican candidates and 7 Democrats.

I’ll update you later on the exact figures and give you the complete list of names.

• John D. Anderson ^[1] 6904 Joseph Dr. Enon 45323 REP
• Steve Austria ^[2] 2537 Obetz Dr. Beavercreek 45434 REP
• Edward Breen  213 Ernshaw Dr. Kettering 45429 REP (possibly the son of former Dayton Mayor, Edward G Breen, andlater congressman- he wrote a book about his dad- see link ^[3]. note, his father was a democrat)

• ALERT

  updated 14 Dec- Horace G. Crawford, Jr.  117 Patton Ave. Dayton 45417 DEM Problems with petitions took him off the ballot

• David Esrati  ^[4] 113 Bonner St. Dayton 45410 DEM
• Olivia Freeman ^[5]  22 W. Goodman Dr. Apt-24 Fairborn 45324 DEM
• Michael Gardner  4321 Alleghany Trail Jamestown 45335 DEM (Retired, former owner of “Backyard Development” and frequent donor to Dem candidates and causes).
• Ryan Steele  1421 Meadow Moor Dr. Beavercreek 45434 DEM
• Michael R. Turner ^[6]  5815 Stone Lake Dr. Kettering 45429 REP
• L. Mack VanAllen 220 Kimbary Dr. Centerville 45458 DEM (according to WHIO TV he’s a retired School Teacher)
• Richard Scott Wharton  7365 Chilli-Lane Rd. Amanda 43102  DEM

As to the Democrats- I don’t see any well known names (other than my own). Note- Mike Turner still is living in Centerville- apparently not moving to Performance Place as he once said.

I’m happy to ask you to volunteer sleuth who these people may be- and to vet them for criminal records etc.

Of course, since the district map and the primary date are still up in the air, none of these petitions may ultimately get any of these candidates on the ballot. This deadline was for the March 6 primary using the map that only the Republicans have agreed on. Once the courts step in, everything will change.

Most likely, these petitions and their filing fees will be rejected, and the same candidates will be asked to refile with yet another date on the petition and a whole new set of signatures.

None of these 11 candidates’ names will be officially on the ballot until Tuesday at 11 am when the Board of Elections meets to validate and approve the petitions.

Of news to me, there are now 5 recognized minority parties in Ohio- all with 50 signature requirements, who would have to follow the same guidelines:

• The Americans Elect Party ^[7]
• The Constitution Party ^[8]
• The Green Party ^[9]
• The Libertarian Party ^[10]
• The Socialist Party ^[11]

This was because the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit found Ohio’s laws for political party formation and ballot access were unconstitutional (Libertarian Party of Ohio v Blackwell.

If you want to run as an independent, you can file on the day before the primary, with 2,650 valid voter signatures (harder to do than you think). The good news for both minority parties and independents is that you can have any voter sign.

And while this election looks to be a circus in the new OH-10, it’s no worse than the circus we currently have in Congress where discourse, debate and diplomacy have been thrown out the window for partisan party politics.

Of course, if we moved to Instant Runoff Balloting, we could skip all this winnowing down of candidates and start having real choices on the ballot.