Arienne Childrey 

(1-6-24) Mercer County Republican Party Chairman Bob Hibner submitted a letter of protest on Friday to the Mercer County Board of Elections claiming that Arienne Childrey, a Democratic Candidate, and a transgender woman running for the 84th House District had been known by at least one other name in the past year but did not list that other name on her petition.

The intent of the protest is to remove Childrey from the ballot. 

Section 3513.271 (portion)

If any person desiring to become a candidate for public office has had a change of name within five years immediately preceding the filing of his statement of candidacy, both his statement of candidacy and nominating petition must contain, immediately following the person’s present name, the person’s former names. Any person who has been elected under the person’s changed name, without submission of the person’s former name, shall be immediately suspended from the office and the office declared vacated, and shall be liable to the state for any salary the person has received while holding such office. The attorney general in the case of candidates for state offices, the prosecuting attorney of the most populous county in a district in the case of candidates for district offices, and the prosecuting attorney of the county in the case of all other candidates shall institute necessary action to enforce this section.

Vanessa Joy

This letter of protest comes after another transgender candidate, Vanessa Joy, was disqualified from running in the 50th Ohio House District for not putting her former name on her petition for office.

This is based on an Ohio Law that was passed in the 1990’s that requires people running for political office who have changed their name within the last five years to include their former names on candidacy petitions. Joy had enough valid signatures. Problem was, she legally changed her name in 2022 and did not include her former name on the petitions she’d circulated, as required by law.

Joy told Cleveland’s News 5–

“I would have had to have my dead name on my petitions. But in the trans community, our dead names are dead; there’s a reason it’s dead — that is a dead person who is gone and buried.”

The following is a statement from Arienne Childrey:

“I was made aware of the letter of protest submitted by Mercer GOP Chairman Hibner, yesterday evening, through a reporter for the Daily Standard. I would note that the name change provision is not included in the Candidate Guide issued by the Secretary of State’s office, nor any of the other paperwork or forms. In fact, had I known of this provision and tried to comply – which I certainly would’ve, my legal name and deadname simply could not have fit in the space provided on the candidacy documents.

I can’t help but wonder how many Ohio politicians – those who have changed their names due to divorce or other reasons – have served out their entire terms without this ever being an issue.

This effort to remove trans candidates, due to an obscure law, comes at a time when the General Assembly has ramped up efforts to use their role in government to wage an outright attack on the LGBTQ+ community. Across the state, former Rep. Steve Kraus has been approved for certification to run for office, despite his 2015 felony conviction … Yet trans candidates are removed, or threatened with removal, for not dead naming ourselves.

I entered this race to fight for the people of the 84th district and to fight against the rising tide of hatred in our district and our state. Regardless of the outcome of this hearing, I will continue that fight.”