COLUMBUS, Ohio — An Ohio law that’s been used to keep at least one transgender candidate off of November’s ballot could impact a Republican running for the Statehouse. The law deals with candidates who change their legal name before running for office. It has been on the books since 1995.
“I’ve been known as ‘Tex’ since I was a kid,” said State Rep. Tex Fischer, (R-Boardman).
Fischer is only 28-years-old and already oversees a district as a State Representative. He would prefer his name to appear on the ballot as ‘Tex’ Fischer, as he publicly runs to become a state legislator for the 59th district. This region spans parts of Mahoning and Columbiana counties.
“The local Democratic Party filed a complaint with the county board of elections,” Fischer said. “Essentially, trying to get me thrown off the ballot over this issue.”
The issue stems from a 1995 law that requires anyone who’s changed their name within the last five years to include both their current name and their previous name. Up until 2020, Fischer’s name was ‘Austin James Fischer.’ Since then, it’s been altered to ‘Austin James Texford Fischer.’
“I generally think that the spirit of the law that’s in question is reasonable,” Fischer said. “Nobody should be able to change their name to ‘Donald Trump’ or ‘Mike DeWine‘ and run for office and kind of benefit off of somebody else’s name.”
Fischer says that’s not the case in his status of running. According to legal expert, Jonathan Entin, the law was originally created to get rid of voter confusion.
“The concern is that names can be named for who we are,” Entin said. “But sometimes people use names in a way that maybe poses a risk of voter confusion or maybe voter deception.”
The law does include exceptions for people who change their name when they get married, and for candidates who had previously been elected to office. While Fischer currently serves as a legislator for the neighboring 58th district, he was not elected to that seat, but he was appointed to it after it was vacated.
“So, then the question is ‘how much discretion do you want to give the board of elections to give exceptions or waivers?’” said Entin.
The Mahoning County Board of Elections voted 2-2 regarding the complaint that was filed. They have sent it to Secretary of State Frank LaRose to make a final decision on the ruling. Fischer says, if he was asked about the technicality, he would abide by the law. But, says it does not change his ultimate goal of helping constituents.
“I’m going to campaign twice as hard,” said Fischer. “I am going to try to get my message out to twice as many people. I have absolute confidence we’re going to prevail on this, and prevail on Nov. 5.”
Chris Anderson, Chair of the Mahoning County Democratic Party, said the following in a statement:
“As I’ve said from the outset to anyone who has asked, this isn’t about Tex as a person. I don't know him outside of his fringe policies - I don't care what he calls himself, that’s his business. It’s about getting clarity on if the law that his party used to keep off 4 candidates applies, or if there are two sets of rules. Whether it’s settling the First Energy case for pennies on the dollars, the disingenuous and down right deceitful ballot language the GOP rammed through the ballot board regarding Issue 1 or any of the other countless displays of corruption, it’s become abundantly clear in Ohio politics that there is one set of rules for Republicans and one for everyone else.
It’s a sad state of affairs that have brought us here entirely fueled by gerrymandering that has allowed the Ohio General assembly to become so corrupt and unproductive.
I hope that Secretary LaRose will decide quickly - and that even if he allows him on the ballot his ruling will provide future clarity for candidates with updates to the candidate guide and maybe even spur the general assembly to fix an ambiguous law.”