EVANSVILLE — A candidate for an EVSC school board seat has dropped out of the race amid reports — denied by him — that he has at least one felony conviction.
Under Indiana statute 3-8-1-5, a felony conviction disqualifies an individual from running for most state and local elected offices in the state.
Ryan Owens had only filed his candidacy for the District 1 school board seat on June 9. But on Tuesday, two weeks later, Owens formally withdrew.
Owens was the first individual in Vanderburgh County to file a school board candidacy under the banner of a major political party, filing as a Republican in a district currently represented by Chris Kiefer. His departure from the race leaves Kiefer, who filed as a nonpartisan candidate, to run unopposed in this year’s countywide election.
An Evansville resident with Owens’ first and last name, middle initial and date of birth was convicted in 2012 of possession of marijuana, then a Class D felony, in Harrison County, Indiana.
Having heard reports that Owens was disqualified from running, Vanderburgh County GOP Chairman Kyhle Moers spoke to him this week. Moers said Owens denied having any felony convictions but agreed to withdraw from the school board race.
In a text message, Owens told the Courier & Press he withdrew “due to family reasons.”
“My wife is pregnant with our 5th child, she is going to school, I work a full time job that is very demanding at times,” he wrote. “I did not realize the insanity that a school board race would bring, and the types of people willing to say and do anything to make themselves look good and others look bad, whether they are true or not, and they are not.”
Owens wrote that he had been trying to perform a service for his community, but “the people that have been at this for a long time don’t want to (lose) their power.”
“Those same people will apparently do whatever it takes to smear someone else or make things up about them,” he wrote.
GOP Chairman Moers said first-time candidates should carefully consider all the ramifications of a decision to put themselves in the spotlight by seeking public office.
Moers recruited Republican candidates for EVSC school board seats after Indiana Gov. Mike Braun signed a bill allowing school board candidates to disclose their party affiliation in what had been strictly nonpartisan elections.
But the GOP chairman said he didn’t recruit Owens. No eligible candidate for public office needs his party chairman’s approval to file a candidacy.
Moers already vets Republican candidates’ voting history to be sure they’ve voted in the requisite number of GOP primary elections and their residency to be assured they live in the correct boundaries.
But Moers said the incident with Owens has shown him he can’t assume a candidate isn’t disqualified for other reasons. But candidates themselves bear part of the burden for making sure they don’t have to drop out of a race soon after filing, he said.
“It’s a candidate’s responsibility to know what those requirements are before they ever file for office,” Moers said.
Owens wrote that he may “try again when (his children) are older and I have more time.”
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: EVSC school board candidate drops out amid reports of felony conviction
Reporting by Thomas B. Langhorne, Evansville Courier & Press / Evansville Courier & Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Thomas B. Langhorne, Evansville Courier & Press | USA TODAY Network
