Second transgender Ohio candidate faces state election law challenge

Mercer County election officials on Tuesday were considering whether to hold a hearing about a challenge to Arienne Childrey’s bid for state office, said county assistant prosecutor Amy Ikerd. Childrey is a man who identifies as a woman and is the only Democrat registered to run for the state’s 84th House District seat. Mercer County Republican Party Chairman Robert Hibner on Friday asked election officials to remove Childrey from the March ballot, saying Childrey did not list previously used names on campaign paperwork. Childrey wrote in a statement that a shortage of space on the form kept him from listing the names. Childrey also said the Mercer County Democratic Party has filed a protest against Hibner’s request, saying another Ohio law states that challenges to a candidate’s petition can only be filed by members of the same political party.

What is the foundation of the challenge? Hibner cited a state law passed in 1995 that requires candidates for public office to list both their current name and any other names they used in the preceding five years on their petition forms. Citing that same law, the Stark County Board of Elections last week removed from the ballot Vanessa Joy, also a man who identifies as a woman. Joy appealed the decision, and Joy and Childrey said the requirement was not clearly stated in the state’s candidate guide.

Dig deeper: Read Bethel McGrew’s column in WORLD Opinions about how “misgendering” and “deadnaming” are being criminalized.