State Ex Rel. Lucas County Republican Party Executive Committee v. Husted, 2015 Ohio 3948

Lucas County Board of Elections was repeatedly dysfunctional (discord, lack of policies, alleged tampering, hostile meetings), prompting multiple periods of state administrative oversight.
Secretary of State Husted created a four-member transparency committee, which held hearings and recommended removal of several board members and termination of staff after finding pervasive dysfunction.
Husted removed three Republican board members and suspended another; the Lucas County Republican Party (LCRP) then recommended Kelly Bensman and Ben Roberts to fill two Republican vacancies.
Husted rejected both recommended appointees in writing under R.C. 3501.07, stating a reasonable belief each was incompetent to serve: Bensman for repeated disruptive, intimidating conduct; Roberts for his short, ineffective tenure as director and his resignation admitting inability to change the board’s culture.
LCRP filed for a writ of mandamus in the Ohio Supreme Court seeking to compel Husted to appoint Bensman and Roberts; the court reviewed whether Husted abused his discretion in rejecting the recommendations.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the secretary must supply written reasons and may reject a party’s recommended elector only for reasonable belief of incompetence	LCRP: Husted failed to meet the legal standard; nominees were qualified and rejection was improper	Husted: Statute requires written reasons; he may reject if he reasonably believes nominee is incompetent	Held: Secretary provided written reasons and may reject based on reasonable belief of incompetence; court defers absent abuse of discretion
Whether Husted abused his discretion in rejecting Kelly Bensman	LCRP: Bensman is qualified (professional experience, affidavits) and rejection rests on disputed anecdotes	Husted: Record (transparency hearings, staff testimony, news reports) showed repeated disruptive, intimidating behavior making her unfit	Held: No abuse of discretion; evidence supports conclusion she lacked requisite competence
Whether Husted abused his discretion in rejecting Ben Roberts	LCRP: Roberts has professional credentials and public support; short past tenure shouldn’t bar appointment	Husted: Roberts resigned as director after admitting he could not change the board’s culture; competence includes ability to restore functioning board	Held: No abuse of discretion; secretary reasonably construed competence to include capacity to address board culture and properly rejected Roberts

State ex rel. Lawrence Cty. Republican Party Executive Commt. v. Brunner, 119 Ohio St.3d 92 (discusses secretary’s written-reason requirement and standard of review)
State ex rel. Summit Cty. Republican Executive Commt. v. Brunner, 118 Ohio St.3d 515 (reasonable-belief standard for incompetence under R.C. 3501.07)
State ex rel. Skaggs v. Brunner, 120 Ohio St.3d 506 (deference to official’s reasonable statutory interpretation)
State ex rel. Cuyahoga Cty. Democratic Party Executive Commt. v. Taft, 67 Ohio St.3d 1 (rejection based on rumor/suspicion is improper)
State ex rel. Pike Cty. Republican Executive Commt. v. Brown, 43 Ohio St.3d 184 (executive committee may choose to recommend another or seek mandamus but not both)
State ex rel. Lucas Cty. Democratic Executive Commt. v. Brown, 39 Ohio St.3d 157 (competence includes ability to work with others and inspire confidence in the election system)