Mahoning BOE says Ungaro off November ballot; Ungaro vows to fight
Eric Ungaro, who was running as an independent for the 59th District Seat for Ohio State Representative, has been informed by the Mahoning County Board of Election has voted not to certify his candidacy for the November election.
Danielle O'Neill, Petitions and Candidates Issues Supervisor for the Mahoning County Board of Election, told 21 News on Monday, Aug. 22, that the Board of Elections received a letter protesting Ungaro's ability to run as an independent, stating that Ungaro's website shows Ungaro using Democratic branding, and a donation to a Democratic candidate for State Representative for the 64th District. The letter was from a Northside resident, Jonathan Blackshire.
21 News spoke with Ungaro about the decision, and he said plans to challenge the decision and has hired counsel to file an appeal to the Ohio Supreme Court.
Ungaro told 21 News the photos in question on the photo gallery portion of the website are from his 2018 candidacy for the 59th District Seat, which shows an image of his father, the former Youngstown mayor Pat Ungaro, who died in 2019.
Ungaro said obtained 602 valid signatures, exceeding the 454 needed to run. Ungaro also said he has not voted in any recent primaries in 2021 or 2022 and said he is not associated with any Executive Party Committees since 2018.
Blackshire's protest letter of candidacy stated that the photos, in addition to what he called Ungaro's "long affiliation with the Democratic Party," asked the Board of Election to invalidate his candidacy, which they did.
"Mr. Ungaro's claim that he does not consider himself affiliated with a political party is not made in good faith as required by Ohio law to run as an Independent candidate," Blackshire wrote.
Ungaro said, as far as the donation to Vince Peterson, who is running as a Democrat for Ohio State Representative 64th district seat, that he coached Vince as a child and coached with as an adult.
“Since 2018, Americans are moving more to independent voters — because we are losing faith in the system that is in place. I happen to be one of them. If a photo of my deceased father at an event — that we chose to keep up in his memory is going to keep me off the ballot. Then the Ohio Supreme Court will have to tell me,“ Ungaro said.
