While The last hours of the 135th session of the Ohio Congresslawmakers passed legislation limiting the ability of transgender Ohioans to run for public office.
Members of the Ohio Senate voted to approve the bill after members of the House Government Oversight Committee he twisted his tongue down Senate Bill (SB) 71 – a separate legal act regarding electoral policy.
With an express exception that allows married women to omit their maiden name from the same candidacy petition, Ohioans already It is required to detail any legal name changes that occurred over the last five years in connection with their candidacy petitions.
SB 71 would further codify this requirement by updating the existing nomination form to include a designated space for listing prior legal names and allowing voters registered under any political party to challenge the legality of any candidate based on suspicion of prior legal names – both of which could disproportionately affect for transgender candidates.
Targeting transgender candidates
Conservative Reps. Angie King (R-Celina) AND Rodney Creech (southern part of Alexandria West) First introduced legislation How House Bill (HB) 471 in May this year.
The pair were the only Ohio House candidates to run against transgender candidates in the 2024 general election – they faced transgender candidates Bobbie Brooke Arnold and Arienne Childrey, who narrowly avoided disqualification under the law.
A third transgender candidate, Vanessa Joy, was completely disqualified from the Stark County ballot after failing to provide her former legal name on her initial application to run, even though there was no designated space on the form to do so.
Democrats have introduced opposing legislation to protect transgender candidates from discrimination during the candidacy and election process, but the bill failed to gain traction in the Ohio House of Representatives.
Over the summer, newly appointed conservative Rep. Tex Fischer (R-Boardman) faced a challenge under the same law for failing to disclose a change to his own name and surname.
Fischer – who is not transgender – changed his name in 2020 from “Austin James Fischer” to “Austin James Texford Fischer.”
Ultimately, Fischer was cleared to appear on the general election ballot, but called for electoral reform regarding the rule.
“I also don’t think it would be necessary to publish someone’s name on the ballot,” he told The Buckeye Flame, using a term that often refers to a transgender person’s previous legal name. “I don’t think publishing the previous name will really do any good for voters, it will only make the candidate sad.”
Just before the House voted to pass SB 71, Rep. Latyna Humphrey (D-Columbus) opposed the bill, warning other lawmakers that the bill would create a “pile of unnecessary work” for boards of elections across the state.
Both Creech and King provided remarks in support of the bill, neither of which mentioned transgender candidates or acknowledged Fischer’s call for reform. 🔥
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