Polivka loses election challenge

WARREN, Ohio - Long-time Trumbull Commissioner Dan Polivka, defeated for reelection by Republican Niki Frenchko by a sizable margin in November, lost his court case Wednesday to overturn the election results and either declare him the winner or order another election.
Frenchko had garnered around 52 percent of the vote, more than 52,500 votes, in beating the four-term incumbent who is also chairman of the Trumbull Democratic Party.
“The court will not grant the relief sought by the commissioner,” ruled Visiting Judge John Haas, a retired Stark County jurist, following a lengthy hearing. “The people have spoken in this case. They voted—they exercised their rights.”
In addition to naming Frenchko as a defendant in his lawsuit, Polivka also sued the Trumbull Board of Elections because of its ruling last September that Frenchko is a qualified elector even though her daughter attends school in Mentor.
Frenchko occasionally lives there with her domestic partner and legal counsel, Attorney Joseph Szeman.
The board had ruled, however, that Frenchko’s home on Kenilworth SE, Warren qualifies as her primary residence.
That protest had been filed by Thomas Cool, a Warren bail bondsman and not by Polivka who testified he had no contact with Cool, identified as a Republican.
Polivka’s attorney, Rick Brunner, argued that there was insufficient time for the commissioner to file a timely challenge even though evidence presented during Wednesday’s lengthy hearing indicated that he appeared to have learned of the Mentor residency by late 2019 and had made the public aware of it in his political ads.
Polivka had not filed any challenge to Frenchko’s candidacy until after he lost the election.
During cross examination, Szeman and Attorney Thomas Wilson, representing the board of elections, continually questioned the commissioner about his failure to act against Frenchko’s candidacy much earlier in the year.
“I never thought she’d make it to November,” Polivka admitted on the stand.
In ruling against the commissioner, Judge Haas appeared to be dismissive of Brunner’s argument that Polivka was being penalized over the timeliness of the protest filing.
Although he acknowledged “reason for concern” because of the Mentor residence, Haas said the elections board properly fulfilled its responsibilities by conducting its investigation and ruling as it did.
“It is clear to this court that (Frenchko) has residence here. (Her home) is not an office building,” the judge said.
Brunner told 21 News after the decision he is considering appealing the outcome directly to the Ohio Supreme Court, which would be the next step in the legal process.
Polivka afterwards would not back down on his allegations. “I still believe that fraud was committed (over the residency issue),” he told reporters.
Frenchko predicted that if the commissioner appeals to the state supreme court, he will likely lose.
She said a high court ruling in a similar case over residency applies should Polivka file against her.
“The state supreme court is not going to rule against itself,” she said.
Meanwhile, another case filed by Cool against the Trumbull Board of Elections in Franklin County has not been resolved.
In that case, the court earlier granted a motion to dismiss Frenchko and Szeman as defendants.
Frenchko’s term begins January 3.
She said she expected to take her oath Wednesday.