On September 21, a Republican nominee for Trumbull County (Ohio) Common Pleas Judge filed a federal lawsuit to get on the November ballot. The Republican Party county central committee chose her because this is a special election. She was then kept off the November ballot because she is a “sore loser”, but she is only a “sore loser” because she was running for a different judicial post in the May 2022 primary.

The case is Kovoor v Ohio Secretary of State, s.d., 2:22cv-3468. Unless her lawsuit succeeds, the only candidate on the November ballot will be the Democratic nominee. Here is her Complaint. The case is assigned to U.S. District Court Judge James L. Graham, a Reagan appointee.

The plaintiff, Sarah Kovoor, already lost a similar lawsuit in Ohio Supreme Court on September 19. That case was State ex rel Trumbull County Republican Central Committee v Trumbull County Board of Elections. Here is the Ohio Supreme Court decision.