‘Inconsistent with Republican principles’: Supreme Court blocks Dem scheme to manipulate election

The Supreme Court has blocked a longtime Democrat’s scheme to disrupt a Republican primary for an Ohio congressional seat by filing for the office as a Republican.

Samual Ronan has a long history of Democrat activism, including being a candidate once to be chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

Then he claimed to be a Republican and launched a campaign to unseat Rep. Mike Carey, the Republican incumbent in his district, according to a report from Courthousenews.

He was removed from the GOP primary ballot by a state board that ruled his loyalties were not with that party, and the Supreme Court declined to intervene.

A voter had filed a protest to Ronan’s campaign, charging his allegiance wasn’t to the Republican Party, and a state panel agreed.

The Supreme Court on Thursday shut down an attempt by Samuel Ronan, a longtime liberal Democrat, to force his way onto the Republican primary ballot for a congressional seat from Ohio. https://t.co/Vm43aAPTC2

— The Washington Times (@WashTimes) April 9, 2026

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Supreme Court blocks candidate after alleged GOP infiltration scheme exposed https://t.co/iFKUYfMzXF

— ConservativeLibrarian (@ConserLibrarian) April 10, 2026

Ronan protested, claiming he was removed because of “the content of his political speech.”

He said the state panel, “concluded that his past statements on various political issues were inconsistent with Republican principles and that he therefore must have lied when he swore under oath that he is a Republican and intends to abide by Republican principles.”

He said he his ideals have been forsaken by Democrats and he was trying to take them to Republicans.

“That is not a ‘strategic candidacy’ or some kind of trick,” Ronan wrote. “It is not unlawful. It is not wrong.”

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose charged that Ronan “has been on a decadelong mission to get Democrats to primary Republicans in deep-red districts. LaRose said he removed Ronan from primary ballots for lying on his candidacy form about his membership in the Republican party and his willingness to abide by the party’s principles,” the report explalined.

LaRose wrote, “Falsifying the election-candidacy declaration is a felony of the fifth degree. As required by Ohio law, Ronan declared that he was ‘a member of the Republican Party’ and if elected he would ‘support and abide by the principles enunciated by the Republican Party.’ But even after signing this form, Ronan continued to push his vision that Democrats like himself should primary Republicans in deep-red districts to ‘get a foot in the door.'”

His frantic appeal to the high court went to Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who called for an immediate response, and the result was the fuill court denied Ronan’s request.

Ronan’s attempt to run was in Ohio’s 15th congressional district.

He signed a declaration, under penalty of election falsification, that he was a member of the Republican Party.

But court documents noted he was known to have admitted publicly that his candidacy was part of a strategy to run Democrats as Republicans.

Voter Mark Schare brought his protest to the Franklin County Board of Elections.

At the district court level, where Ronan sued for access to the ballot, Judge Sarah D. Morrison rejected his First Amendment claims, ruling that does not protect a candidate for submitting a fraudulent declaration.