Congressional candidate ruled ineligible for November election

EARLY VOTING

In-office early voting at the Butler County Board of Elections is under way and runs through June 6. Here are the times:

Anyone wishing to vote by mail must submit application requests by noon on Saturday, June 4. Applications may be picked up at the Butler County Board of Elections or downloaded from the elections office website, www.butlercountyelections.org.

While there will be three men seeking the state’s unexpired 8th Congressional District seat in the June 7 special election, only two of them will be eligible to run for the full two-year term in November.

The Butler County Board of Elections sent a letter May 16 to Jim Condit Jr. outlining that when he pulled a Republican ballot in his Hamilton County voting precinct in the March presidential primary, he made himself ineligible to seek the full two-year term as a member of the Green Party.

In Ohio, registered voters declare party affiliation in presidential and gubernatorial primaries. Because Condit declared himself affiliated with the Republican Party, he cannot run as a Green Party candidate.

“I stupidly pulled a Republican ballot,” said Condit, Jr., who also admitted that he is “a terrible fit” for the Green Party. “It’s such a bad fit that in a way I’m relieved.”

The Green Party will seek a person to replace Condit in the November election, according to Gwen Marshall, member of the Hamilton County Green Party and treasurer of The Green PAC of Southwest Ohio.

The special election is due to the retirement of former Speaker John Boehner in October 2015. Republican Warren Davidson emerged from a 15-candidate field in the GOP primary this past March. Democrat Corey Foister was unchallenged. Davidson, Foister and Condit Jr. will seek to fill the remaining months on the unexpired congressional term. But now, only Davidson and Foister’s names will appear on the November ballot for the full two-year congressional term that would begin in January 2017.

Condit, Jr. did not say if he will still seek the congressional seat in November, which the only way would be as a write-in candidate. He said he would make an announcement on June 8 — the day after the special election.

The Butler County Board of Elections said the Green Party could have replaced Condit, Jr. on the special election ballot. However, the issue didn’t come to the attention of elections officials until after the deadline to do so, which is why Condit, Jr. is allowed to remain on the special ballot.

According to the Green Party in Hamilton County, the organization will seek a replacement candidate for the November election. There is no known organized Green Party group in Butler County.