The Montgomery County Board of Elections announced during their recent board meeting that Joseph’s last day will be Friday.
In Ohio, election boards are managed by members of the two major political parties. Joseph filled the deputy director vacancy left by Democrat Sarah Greathouse in 2023. The Democratic deputy director oversees the day-to-day operations of the election board office alongside Director Jeffrey Rezabek, a Republican.
Rezabek did not return a request for comment about Joseph’s upcoming departure.
Montgomery County Democratic Party Chair Mohamed Al-Hamdani said the Montgomery County Democratic Party will recommend a replacement for Joseph. A candidate will be recommended to the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office.
The brother of longtime Dayton city commissioner Matt Joseph, Russ Joseph served more than a decade as chief deputy clerk of the Dayton Municipal Court and served brief appointed terms as the Montgomery County treasurer and county clerk of courts. Joseph also served as finance and procurement manager with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.
In his new role, Joseph said he’ll be assisting the Dayton Municipal Court with implementing a new courthouse software system and other tasks.
Dayton Municipal Court Clerk Marty Gehres did not return a request for comment about the addition to his team.
During his two-year tenure at the Montgomery County Board of Elections, Joseph was at the center of an investigation involving a county prosecutor’s office memo being leaked to Al-Hamdani.
Al-Hamdani and a Republican voter had challenged the candidacy of now Montgomery County Commissioner Mary McDonald, claiming McDonald did not follow proper procedure for filing her declaration of intent to run as a Republican. The Montgomery County Board of Elections declined to suspend or remove Joseph from office, but ordered him to complete public records training.
Joseph said he’s grateful for the hard work of employees at the Montgomery County Board of Elections.
“It’s a very stressful operation. I just want to give a big thanks to all of those who are working in our office every day. They work long hours, especially during the election cycle, but really all year,” he said. “They make sure that our systems are updated and ready to go for the next election.”
Al-Hamdani replaced retired judge Barbara Gorman on the four-person panel that makes up the voting members of the Montgomery County Board of Elections. The three other members of the board of elections are Democrat Rhine McLin (chair) and Republicans Erik Blaine and Thomas A. Routsong.
Aimee Hancock contributed to this report.
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