The race for the 59th Ohio House District is getting more crowded, after Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose voted to allow the candidacy of Gregory A. Beight to appear as an independent candidate on the November 8 ballot.

Following an Aug. 29 protest hearing, Mahoning County Board of Election members David Betras and Joyce Kale-Pesta voted against certification, and members Sandra Barger and Robert Aurandt voted for certification.

According to Ohio election laws, an independent candidate is “any candidate who claims not to be affiliated with a political party, and whose name has been certified on the office-type ballot at a general or special election through the filing of a statement of candidacy and nominating petition... Moreover, “[a]n independent candidate must actually be unaffiliated from any political party, and the required claim of unaffiliation must be made in good faith for the candidate to be qualified to run as an independent candidate.”

Because of the tie, LaRose cast the tie-breaking vote, allowing Beight to be on the ballot as an independent for the House Seat in November. 

The letter from LaRose stated "prior to the filing of his independent petition, the Candidate had a history of voting mostly (but not exclusively) in Republican primaries. The position statement of those voting in favor of the protest primarily concentrated on the fact that the Candidate voted a Republican ballot in the May 3, 2022, primary election."

The LaRose letter stated that the candidate did share social media posts originally appearing on three Republican candidates’ Twitter accounts regarding policy issues, but he did not represent that he is personally affiliated with the Republican Party in the sharing of those social media posts. He stated that he shared these tweets based on the underlying economic issues, and not party politics.

Also waiting to hear if his name will appear on the ballot for the 59th District is Eric Ungaro, who was removed as an independent candidate after the Mahoning County Board of Elections bounced in late August after a complaint was filed about his affiliation with the Democrat party. This case is waiting for a decision from the Ohio Supreme Court.