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Home > Blogs > Ohio politics > Archives > 2010 > March > 09 > Entry
Brunner fires back in AG ballot signature flap
Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner on Tuesday, March 9, denied that her office “lost or mishandled” any signatures submitted by Hardin County attorney Steve Christopher in Christopher’s effort to run for the Republican nomination for attorney general.
Brunner’s office last week said that Christopher submitted petitions with just 788 signatures and that only 638 were validated, short of the 1,000 needed to qualify for the ballot.
Christopher’s campaign said he turned in petitions with about 2,750 signatures.
“Mr. Christopher is an attorney,” Brunner said in the press release. “Most attorneys I know keep a copy for their file when they file a document with a court or a public office. It’s what we’re taught to do in law school to keep good records for our clients, even when we may be our own client.”
Christopher’s campaign has said he has copies of a majority but not all of the petitions he submitted to Brunner’s office.
Meanwhile, Phil Herzing of Washington Township said that he gathered about 100 signatures on his own for Christopher’s campaign, most of which came from Montgomery County. Some came from Warren and Greene counties. Including the 100 he gathered himself, he and acquaintances gathered about 400 signatures from Montgomery, Greene, Miami and neighboring counties.
Herzing said he collected 60 signatures gathered by a woman from Mercer County. Brunner’s log showed no signatures from Mercer County.
Brunner’s office released a log that her office sent only four signatures from Montgomery County voters to the Montgomery County Board of Elections for validation and that all four were validated.
Christopher’s campaign has said he is working on a legal challenge to Brunner’s decision keeping him off the primary ballot, a decision that leaves former U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine of Cedarville unopposed for the Republican nomination for attorney general.
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By Buy Ambien
April 5, 2010 9:04 AM | Link to this
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By Sharon Morgan
March 13, 2010 1:48 PM | Link to this
This guy is nutty. Paranoia lives!
By Watcher
March 13, 2010 1:42 PM | Link to this
Why does Christopher’s story keep changing? First, it was that he had copies of everything. Then it was copies of some of them. And if Christopher really believes that something was amiss here, isn’t that a crime? Seems to me that if he really believed somebody lost or misplaced his papers, he’d file a report with the police as I’m pretty sure you’re referring to foul play. Could it be that either he or his people are so slipshod that THEY lost or misplaced their paperwork and are now trying to perpetrate a fraud on the voters of Ohio wasting taxpayers time and money? Something doesn’t add up here. To me it’s Christopher’s story — whatever he says it is today.
By Kicker
March 11, 2010 12:11 PM | Link to this
I personally reviewed and verified over 200 signatures on the Christopher petitions for Greene county. When I spoke with the Greene county BOE, they said they only received 4 partial petitions with 11 valid signatures from the State. Either the Christopher campaign failed to hand in 38 pages of petitions, or someone in the SoS office is playing games. Which seems more likely, given that it’s happening to other candidates as well.
By Doubleguns
March 10, 2010 11:02 PM | Link to this
Wonder why there are 2 other candidates with missing petitions that were lost at the SOS. SOS office is not passing the smell test here. One of those candidates was running against Brunner. Now that does really smell. Seriously how can she expect to get away with this corruption.
By Duane Kincaid
March 10, 2010 9:29 PM | Link to this
I don’t believe Christopher. His story keeps changing.
By Liberty
March 10, 2010 7:50 PM | Link to this
What I find interesting is the Republican Party is not even rushing to defend one of their own. Oh yeah, Steve Christopher would have been running against Mike DeWine…Kevin DeWine’s second cousin…hummmmm. Plus, if you were a democrat, who would you rather run against…Christopher or Rhino DeWine? It looks like Chicago politics has found another new home. Sad.
By Advocates for Liberty
March 10, 2010 11:36 AM | Link to this
According to the SOS office, the 2750 figure is not verfied at filing. Their office stated that even the sum of the circulator estimates only approached 800. If you would like to get the explanation of the process for yourself, call Ohio Secretary of State Phone: (614)-466-2655 Toll Free: (877)-767-6446 If memory serves, the prompts were 2, 2.
By watcher
March 10, 2010 9:24 AM | Link to this
So it appears like it is a pretty disorganized campaign, “Christopher’s campaign has said he has copies of a majority but not all of the petitions he submitted to Brunner’s office.” All the blogs I have been reading say that the Christopher campaign has ALL copies of petitions. I think it is time to hang it up and try next time, could be pretty embarrassing if you take this to the high court.. Also, if the campaign is in this much disarray - I would not count on your petition being submitted in the first place - Just because you signed a petition in your county your board may have never received it. It may have never been never turned in to begin with - seriously. My understanding is they did not even have an answer when asked by the sos office how many signatures they were purporting, they had to take a step back and think about a number and then came up with one.
By EthicsWatch
March 10, 2010 9:00 AM | Link to this
Nothing like a good mystery! Somewhere between Starbuck’s and the Board of Elections the package disappeared? Did the Dem’s break in Watergate style? Did his own GOP Party undermine his run against DeWine? Any mystery reader worth their salt will tell you, it was someone close to the victim.
By Let's see 'em
March 10, 2010 8:55 AM | Link to this
Dear Steve Christopher, If you’ve got all the signatures, why not post them all online?
By Rich
March 10, 2010 6:55 AM | Link to this
I know of over 60 signatures collected in Miami County - 20 of which were from people coming to my house to sign the petition. The Miami County Board of Elections received NO petitions from Brunner’s office for verification. Mr. Christopher has a receipt showing that he turned in over 2700 signatures. Jennifer Brunner, being a George Soros hack, is inept.
By Doug
March 9, 2010 11:45 PM | Link to this
Someone please explain how Kevin DeWine has anything to do with this? This is about a candidate that did or did not provide enough signature and a SOS that did or did not receive the correct number of signatures.
By howardthecoward
March 9, 2010 11:23 PM | Link to this
Sure thing Howard. And I stood dumbfounded at how a kook like Christopher, supposedly a lawyer, is essentially saying his dog ate his homework. He must have been sick the day they taught law at the online law school he bought his degree from. If he has copies, cough ‘em up. Does he have something to hide? Is he incompetent?
By Howard
March 9, 2010 11:10 PM | Link to this
The SOS work logs showed no signatures from my county, including my own signature. I personally watched over 3 dozen people brave an icy, cold evening to line up at a local Starbucks to sign petitions for Steve Christopher. Brunner’s latest example of political corruption or ineptness will not stand.
By LivingTheDream
March 9, 2010 10:11 PM | Link to this
Oh please…this guy is obviously a kook. I am not even a Brunner fan, but she is absolutely right: Basic law school 101: Keep good detailed records. This freak has no records and wants to be the AG?
By christopheriscrazy
March 9, 2010 8:41 PM | Link to this
This guy is crazy. I thought the Republican Party was all about personal responsibility. That’s why the secretary of state has to be at fault. That’s right, because it couldn’t possibly be this guy’s campaign. Blame everybody else. It’s their fault. Whine whine whine. If this guy has proof, come forward.
By Paula
March 9, 2010 7:43 PM | Link to this
I heard from two major counties that his petitions were the worst that they ever seen. And this guy wants to be our AG? What a joke!
By Tom Dilts
March 9, 2010 7:23 PM | Link to this
Of course he is concerned. The first thought would be to check to see all petitions were submitted, then methodically go through the process. Once that was satisfied, then check for the count receipt. Yes on all counts. Now what, you have to spend money to prove you did exactly what you were supposed to do? Seems to make this race a big money game. So much is wrong here it smells.
By momcler2
March 9, 2010 7:21 PM | Link to this
There were at least 100 signatures submitted from our County including some from Central Committee members (read: valid signatures). The work logs from the SoS show ZERO submitted/validated signatures from our county as well. Not possible. Also telling is the silence of the Ohio Republican Party. You know, the party of “fair and open elections?” If this had been one of their preferred “good old boys,” they would have immediately looked into the matter and demanded an investigation. Guess we know how “fair” Husted will be… Someone give both DeWines [another] pink slip.
By john edwards
March 9, 2010 6:41 PM | Link to this
partisan brunner bounces a tea party guy AND an opponent from her own primary. hmmm?
By linda
March 9, 2010 6:36 PM | Link to this
Yes he has copies. Those signatures were checked and over 80% were good. The staffer I spoke with today told me that when he learned of the problem, he tore apart offices looking for the missing petitions. Obviously he is concerned.