Biden Could Be Left Off Ohio General Election Ballot, Top Election Official Warns

President Biden could be left off the 2024 general election ballot in Ohio this year because the Democratic National Convention at which the president will officially be nominated is happening more than a week after the deadline for parties to submit their candidates’ names for the ballot in the state. In a letter to the chairwoman of the Ohio Democratic Party, Liz Walters, secretary of state Frank LaRose says that her party must move up the nominating convention or get a special exemption from the state legislature. “The Democratic National Convention is scheduled to convene on August 19, 2024, which occurs more than a week after the August 7 deadline to certify a presidential candidate to the office,” Mr. LaRose writes. In a statement to NBC News, the president’s campaign says they are “monitoring” the situation in Ohio, but they are confident he will be on the ballot in November. The letter from Mr. LaRose won the scorn of some of Mr. Biden’s biggest fans online, who pointed out that President Trump wasn’t nominated as his party’s candidate in 2020 until the last week of August — several days after when Mr. Biden is scheduled to be nominated. Mr. Trump also missed the filing deadline in Ohio that year, but had no problem getting ballot access. The same was true of Senator Romney when he was his party’s nominee in 2012, and President Obama when he ran for reelection. “Frank LaRose is a monster. A complete partisan hack,” said a government and public policy scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, Norm Ornstein, who has long been a critic of Mr. Trump. Mr. LaRose recently lost the Republican primary to be his party’s nominee for the Senate race in Ohio this year. Mr. Biden lost the state to Mr. Trump in 2020 by more than eight points, after Secretary Clinton lost by the same margin just four years earlier. The Buckeye state has shifted to the right rapidly in just the last ten years, and while there was always little hope Mr. Biden could flip the state in 2024, it could hurt down-ballot Democrats if their presidential candidate is left out this year. A number of House Democrats are fighting to keep their seats in competitive districts in Ohio this year. Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur, the longest serving woman in congressional history, now represents a district Mr. Trump won in 2020 and is fighting to keep her seat. Congressman Greg Landsman and Congresswoman Emilia Sykes both won competitive House seats in 2022 and are hoping to hold on in 2024. The state’s senior senator, Senator Brown, is also looking to win another term. He is facing off against a perennial candidate and car dealership magnate, Bernie Moreno, who so far has trailed in the polls behind Mr. Brown. The senator has been an Ohio staple since first being elected to public office in 1974. A popular liberal blogger, Josh Cohen, says it may actually be better if Mr. Biden is left off the ballot this year because he is so unpopular, especially in Ohio. “Biden should accept this to help Sherrod,” Mr. Cohen said, reacting to the ballot news.

Biden Could Be Left Off Ohio General Election Ballot, Top Election Official Warns

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