There won’t be any independents running against the two major party candidates for Ohio governor or the U.S. Senator race this fall, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose announced. However, there will be an addition in his race.
Kelli Prather, a repeat Democratic local and statewide candidate, turned in 1,058 valid signatures, far short of the required 5,000 signatures to run as an independent for U.S. Senate, LaRose said.
Prather was attempting to run against Democrat Tim Ryan and Republican J.D. Vance in November. Prather has run for U.S. Senate and mayor of Cincinnati and was charged last year by federal prosecutors who say she fraudulently applied for COVID-19 relief money several times.
Also failing to turn in the necessary number of valid signatures was Niel Peterson, an evangelical pastor from the Dayton area, wanted to run for governor against incumbent Republican Mike DeWine and Democrat Nan Whaley. LaRose's office said Peterson turned in 4,445 valid signatures.
Peterson's campaign seemed to be aimed at running to the right of DeWine. Peterson had selected as his running mate Mike Stewart, also a pastor. On Peterson's website, he said their platform would include opposition to abortion, "election integrity," "religious freedom" and "medical freedom" in opposition to COVID-19 policies implemented by the state.
In a USA TODAY Network Ohio/Suffolk University poll released on June 2 found that 10.6% of likely voters were leaning toward Peterson.
In the governor's race, F. Patrick Cunnane got 6,243 valid signatures to run, but LaRose’s office said Cunnane and his wife — who was Cunnane's announced running mate — voted in the Republican primary in May, so they are not considered independent or unaffiliated.
There will be a third candidate in the secretary of state race. Terpsehore “Tore” Maras, a pro-Trump podcaster who has promoted the lie that the 2020 presidential election was stolen will face LaRose and Democrat Chelsea Clark on the November ballot.
An affidavit that Maras wrote was included in a 2020 case filed by Trump lawyer Sidney Powell that claimed Dominion Voting machines shifted votes to President Joe Biden. Dominion, which makes voting machines used in 16 Ohio counties, has filed defamation lawsuits for billions of dollars in damages against Powell and others for making that claim.
In 2018, a North Dakota judge ruled Maras misspent money she raised for charities for veterans and the homeless, which she has denied. Maras appeared at an event in Canton in February headlined by Trump advisors Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn and My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell, with what she told the audience was "Hunter Biden's laptop." She has advertised her support for QAnon, including on her campaign Facebook page.
Maras had submitted signatures to run in the Republican primary for secretary of state, but was ruled ineligible because of problems with her petitions and a lack of signatures. She lost an appeal of that decision in the Ohio Supreme Court.
Election deniers are running to head up elections in several states. In the May primary, LaRose faced former state Rep. John Adams, who had claimed in speeches that “Everybody knows after the last election, last year, that we got robbed."
LaRose easily won the primary election with 64% of the vote among Republican voters.
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