A Cleveland doctor whose paperwork to run for governor was rejected has filed a challenge in the Ohio Supreme Court. He’s hoping to get back into what is officially a six-way race for the Democratic nomination.
Jon Heavey was late to the governor’s race, and had hired people to gather the 1,000 signatures he and his running mate Adam Hudak needed. But Heavey said their petition signatures were disqualified at a rate three times higher than others in the race.
“Being relatively new to the process as outsiders, we anticipated that would be a part of the challenge. But we’re looking forward to moving on to addressing more difficult and pressing issues in our community,” Heavey said.
Heavey says he turned in nearly 2,200 signatures, and his team was told some signatures were rejected for being both illegible and printed too legibly.
Ohio Supreme Court Justice Pat DeWine recused himself from the hearing, because he's the son of another candidate in the race: Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, who's running as a Republican. DeWine's running mate, Secretary of State Jon Husted, is among the parties Heavey sued.
