Clark County Republican Conflict Comes to Head
CLARK COUNTY - Due to the recent vacancy of Clark County Commissioner Melanie Flax Wilt, The republican party in Clark County should nominate a temporary replacement to the seat. However in Clark County, there are currently two parties claiming to have that authority, with each now submitting a different nomination that could lead to a lawsuit to finally determine who the legitimate party is.
According to Laura Rosenberger, executive chair of the 'Clark County Republican Party Central and Executive Committee' and recently received filings from a FOIA request, two separate filings have been made to install a new county commissioner despite potentially one lacking the legal authority to do so.
In 2023, members of the Republican party Central Committee in Clark County attempted to vote to remove their leadership, which included county central committee chair William Lindsey and County Executive Committee Chair Laura Rosenberger. What followed has been protracted disputes over party legitimacy for the past few years. According to Rosenberger, the votes to remove the leadership ultimately lacked legitimacy as they were done during illegitimate meetings called by members who lacked the authority to call them.
The breakaway faction, now naming themselves The Republican Party of Clark County and registering the name through the State, led by previous chair Jim Stickford, claimed they held the right to vote to oust their leaders due to legitimate concerns in 2023. The end result has been effectively two separate entities both claiming legitimacy within the county and ongoing legal battles with no clear, distinct victor. In 2024 a case brought by Rosenberger against 'The Republican Party of Clark County' to the Ohio Elections commission was dismissed by the judges who stated it was not up to them to determine who the true party is, Though this was claimed as a victory by The Republican Party of Clark County, both entities have continued to operate independently with no clear decision ever made by an authoritative body.
Rosenberger, who is still listed as a county chair on the official ORP website, argues the 'Republican Party of Clark County' is illegitimate. According to Rosenberger, the matter has been brought up to Ohio Party chair Alex Triantafilou, who has refused to get involved in the matter and, despite this being the specific purview of his position, wants the matter to be handled internally and locally. Unfortunately, this has now exploded into a larger issue as both groups have now submitted forms to nominate their selections for the vacant county commissioner position.
“They're a social club. They're not the ORP. If you look at the Ohio Republican Party and you look at their website and you look at their page that says county chairs, you'll see my name,” Rosenberger said. “There are two functions of a political party and the first function is a political function and the political functions of a party are unregulated because of the first amendment. You can have anyone you want on your party but when it comes to the statutory function, the government function of appointments, when we are doing a county appointment for an auditor, commissioner, any of that, you are no longer in a private function you are in a statutory public function that is strictly regulated by Ohio revised code 305.02”
Rosenberger is referring to the case of Hicks vs. Clermont Cty. Rep. Cent. Commt., 2025-Ohio-2913, which established the statutory requirements and oversights pertaining to party appointments of elected seats and who has the authority to do so. It is that point that has brought the matter to a headwind.
While the separation has gone largely unaddressed for nearly three years, the ‘Republican Party of Clark County’ has recently filed a seat vacancy petition to fill the vacated position of Clark County Commissioner Melanie Flax Wilt. By law, because of her early departure, it is up to the official, duly elected central committee of the Republican Party of Clark County, as stipulated by ORC 305.02, to fill the vacancy which now brings the matter to a larger legal dispute.
On Tuesday, January 6, The Republican Party of Clark County met to hold a vote on who they would nominate to fill the vacant county commissioner seat. According to members in attendance, they voted to appoint Daren Cotter to the role.
While previous disputes have involved internal party finances and property, this is one of the first instances in which the breakaway faction has attempted to act in a statutory public function. According to Rosenberger additional ORC laws come into play regulating the actions of a ‘public body’ which may have been violated by the ‘The Republican Party of Clark County’, including sunshine laws which regulate rules of notice.
Based on obtained documents and information provided to TOR, no public notification was given in a paper of general circulation, nor was ‘every voting member’ notified of the January 6 meeting, with only selected individuals called by telephone and others receiving a notice via mail postmarked January 3, missing the required four day window as stipulated by ORC 305.02 by 24 hours.
On Thursday January 8, the 'Clark County Republican Party Central and Executive Committee' which includes Rosenberger, held their meeting to vote on their commissioner appointment. Ironically, Cotter was also in attendance at that event, where he was 1 of 3 candidates members voted on to receive the appointment from the 'Clark County Republican Party Central and Executive Committee'. Mark Sanders was the eventual victor of that vote.
Both entities submitted their official form 291 to file for that appointment which now means the county and further the state will be in possession of 2 separate forms for two different candidates for the same seat, one from the 'Clark County Republican Party Central and Executive Committee' and one from 'The Republican Party of Clark County'.
It is likely in the absence of action from party leadership to quell this issue, it may fall on a court to decide who holds legitimate authority in Clark County as the official Clark County Republican party.
