UPDATED: 4:55 PM
In a move that a number of Stark County legal observers indicates that the George T. Maier side of Swanson/Darrow v. Gonzalez, et al Ohio Supreme court mandamus action filed by Stark County Sheriff Tim Swanson and Lou Darrow (the man Swanson wants to succeed him as sheriff) is worried that the Supreme Court will actually order Maier off tomorrow's ballot when the Stark County Democratic Party Central Committee (SCDP-CC).
One would think that Stark County Democratic Party chairman Randy Gonzalez and the executive committee would join in with Gregory Beck (legal counsel for Swanson and Darrow) and ask Ohio's "court of last resort" to rule one way or the other as to whether or not the SCDP's leadership is correct in expanding the qualification date for complying with Ohio statutory law so as to merit consideration by the SCDP-CC as a possible appointee of the party.
It could be that as Gonzalez as quoted in local media, to wit:
Gonzalez, who declined to address the riffs within the party, said that no committee member should lose sight of the party's objective with this appointment: To keep the sheriff's office in the hands of the Democrat Party for the foreseeable futureis worried that if Maier does not gain the appointment Wednesday and/or in the May 6, 2014 Democratic primary that he realizes that the Dems are setting up a situation whereby Republican Larry Dordea (who ran in losing efforts to Tim Swanson [2008] and Mike McDonald [2012]) can finally make it as sheriff of Stark County.
Dordea has taken out petitions to run in the May 6th Republican primary and tells the SCPR that it is highly likely that he will in fact run again in 2014.
According to the above-chart the Dems have held the office for almost 50 years (if not more, the SCPR does not know the party identity of sheriffs beyond Papadoupulos). The only exception being 1981-1984 when Republican Robert Berens pulled a stunning upset of George Papadoupulos.
Apparently, Gonzalez sees a Darrow interloping for even a brief period of time (some 11 months) as something the Democrats cannot abide if they are to win the office in the November, 2014 election.
Election year 2014 with the reelection effort of Republican governor John Kasich could be a banner year for down-ballot Republicans and Dordea could be a beneficiary.
Gonazlez's attorneys (Stark Countians Steve Okey and Warren Price) also asked the Supreme Court to dismiss the Swanson/Darrow complaint in mandamus.
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