Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost has filed a brief urging the Ohio Supreme Court to uphold the ruling removing a Delaware County Board of Elections member as a registered voter as well as a candidate for the May primary election.
Yost filed a brief April 22 in the case that involves Melanie Leneghan, who is a Delaware County Board of Elections member and a candidate for the women’s seat on the Republican State Central Committee for the 19th District.
Following a challenge to her residency, the elections board determined that Leneghan failed to meet the state’s residency requirements and voted 2-1 along party lines during an April 10 hearing to remove her from the voter rolls and revoke her candidacy for the May 5 primary. Leneghan filed a case April 14 asking the state’s highest court to overturn the ruling.
“[Leneghan] believes she has the right to shop for a constituency. She does not,” Yost’s brief says. “Voters should choose their representatives. [Leneghan] would have it the other way around.”
During the April 10 hearing, Leneghan testified that she and her husband sold their Powell residence in January 2025 and that she owns two homes in South Carolina. Her husband has been spending the winter at one of the South Carolina properties taking a care of an elderly family member, and she said he intends to return to Ohio over the summer.
Leneghan also testified that she had not actually lived at a city of Delaware address where she was registered to vote immediately after selling her Powell home.
After selling her home, Leneghan updated her registered mailing address to a Galena home on South Old 3C Highway, which has been owned by Catherine Nelson since May 2013. Leneghan later updated her voter registration address to Nelson’s Galena home.
On March 12, that Galena home was transferred to be jointly owned by Nelson and Leneghan, according to Delaware County Auditor records. The transfer was for zero dollars despite the auditor’s website showing the property is estimated to be worth $272,800.
Leneghan previously told The Dispatch she travels for work and spends her time between South Carolina and Ohio, and that she spends the majority of her time in Ohio.
Ohio law says a residence is defined as the place in which a person’s “habitation is fixed and to which, whenever the person is absent, the person has the intention of returning.” Yost’s brief argues that the board acted well within its discretion in weighing the conflicting evidence and determining that Leneghan’s claims of residency were not credible. He stated in the brief that elected officials “should be held to a higher standard than their electorate.”
“For purposes of elected office, residency is paramount,” the brief says. “A candidate’s connection to their constituency informs decision making based on the locality’s needs, increases the local electorate’s voter education, and preserves election integrity and public confidence in the electoral process.”
Yost’s brief states that the election board executed its duty to ensure candidates have meaningful connections to the communities they wish to serve and asks the court to deny Leneghan’s request.
The Ohio Supreme Court had not yet ruled on Leneghan’s appeal.
Delaware County and eastern Columbus suburbs reporter Maria DeVito can be reached at mdevito@dispatch.com and @mariadevito13.dispatch.com on Bluesky and @MariaDeVito13 on X.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Yost urges Ohio Supreme Court to uphold ruling on Delaware County election board member
Reporting by Maria DeVito, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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