The Democratic Party, which faces elections in November without a single candidate on the ballot in Ohio, received a bailout from an unexpected source on Thursday when Republican Governor Mike DeWine called a special session of the state legislature to bail out Biden.
In Ohio, August 7 is the statutory deadline for candidates to appear on the November ballot. The Democrats were well aware of this law and decided to hold their nominating convention on August 22.
BACKGROUND:
Ohio Secretary of State informs Democrats Biden’s name may not be on November ballot
NEW: Biden is no longer on the Ohio general election ballot after the state legislature told him to go to hell
Of course, every time the GOP has the Democrats on the “stack and swing,” so to speak, one of our sensible Republicans inevitably rushes to rescue.
However, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said the problem needs to be addressed by lawmakers.
“I’m absolutely confident it will work,” he said on Tuesday. “Nobody should be worried, they’ll be able to vote for the president or the former president, whoever they want to vote for. You know, it’s not going to happen that the president’s name isn’t on the ballot. So it’s either going to be decided by the courts or by the legislature.”
When neither the Ohio House of Representatives nor the Ohio Senate seemed ready to return to session, DeWine called a special session.
Governor Mike DeWine has taken the unusual step of calling a special session of the House, de facto convening the General Assembly to ensure President Joe Biden is eligible for election in November.
DeWine announced in a press conference on Thursday evening that he would call the special session for Tuesday, May 28. It was the first time in 20 years that a governor had called a special session. Otherwise, the legislature would not have been scheduled to reconvene until June 12.
“Ohio is running out of time to put Joe Biden, the incumbent president of the United States, on the ballot this fall. The failure to do so is simply unacceptable. This is ridiculous. This is an absurd situation,” DeWine said.
He later added: “I’ve been waiting. I’ve been patient. And my patience is running out. And I think the patience of the people of Ohio is running out as well.”
The situation is further complicated by the fact that Republican Speaker Jason Stephens and Republican Senate Majority Leader Matt Huffman do not send each other Christmas cards.
But House Speaker Jason Stephens, a Republican who is in a heated political dispute with Senate President Matt Huffman, told reporters this week that a legislative solution had failed.
“It’s a hyper-political environment this time of year,” Stephens said. “And there are some Republicans who just didn’t want to vote on it. And there were some who [did want to]. I think there are other alternatives to this, so why make a fuss about it unnecessarily?”
If lawmakers don’t act – and they shouldn’t – Democrats have two options.
If lawmakers do nothing, Democrats at the national level will have to take an alternative route to ensure Biden’s name appears on the ballot in November. The Democratic National Committee could potentially pursue an administrative approach that some observers have described as a “mini-convention” that could circumvent state law, or it could file a lawsuit seeking intervention from the court system.
Republicans in Ohio have also said Democrats could sue to force Biden to be elected, and described their lawsuit as promising.
Ohio Republicans should force Democrats to exercise one of the alternatives. The last thing they need to do is pull Biden’s chestnuts out of the fire.
