State Rep. Candice Keller (R-Middletown) lost a bitter primary battle for a Senate seat representing her Southwest Ohio district. And under Ohio law, she can’t run for the post this November.
Ohio GOP leaders called on Keller to resign after she made a Facebook post blaming "transgender, homosexual marriage, and drag queen advocates," among other groups, for the mass shooting in Dayton last August. This April, after losing the party's backing, Keller came in second in the three-way GOP primary.
But she’s got another plan to defeat the representative who beat her.
Keller says she and her husband, Kent Keller Sr., have been talking about the current corruption scandal that’s rocked the Statehouse, and about state Rep. George Lang (R-West Chester). Lang was acquitted on a perjury charge in 2011 after being accused of a kickback scheme involving a telecommunications firm.
“We don’t want another crook sitting in the Statehouse representing us, and so that being the situation here in Butler County, my husband has decided to run as a write-in candidate," Keller says.
Lang, who won the spring primary by a wide margin, says voters there have spoken loud and clear.
"I've never been convicted of a crime in my life, and I don't believe in feeding the monkeys," Lang said in response to Keller's accusations.
It would be a long shot for Kent Keller to win against both Lang and Democrat Kathy Wyenandt, although write-ins have won in primaries before.
Write-in candidates have also filed to run against Republican former House Speaker Larry Householder, who is under indictment for bribery and racketeering. Householder remains on the ballot and will retain his seat if re-elected and if he’s not convicted.
