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Ohio secretary of state replaces Arshinkoff with Akron attorney, rejects the GOP-backed nominee
By Stephanie Warsmith
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Saturday, Mar 01, 2008
First, Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner removed Summit County Republican Chairman Alex Arshinkoff from the elections board seat he had held for nearly 30 years.
Now, she has rejected the party's suggested replacement for Arshinkoff, former Hudson Council President Brian Daley.
Instead, late Friday, Brunner appointed Donald Varian, an Akron attorney in league with state Sen. Kevin Coughlin, Arshinkoff's arch nemesis. Varian is rumored to be Coughlin's suggested replacement for Arshinkoff as the party's chairman in Coughlin's months-long quest to reorganize the county's GOP.
Brunner, a Democrat, said in a letter to the county Republican Party that she received information leading her to conclude that Daley wouldn't be a ''competent'' member of the board. She referred to an October Akron Beacon Journal editorial that described Daley as a ''bully'' on Hudson council. She also pointed to information she received from Mike Moran, a Democratic Hudson City Council member, who said Daley ''tries to intimidate others with a loud voice, and sometimes threats.''
''The Summit County Board of Elections has experienced in the past an environment described as including harassment, intimidation, threats, hostility, retribution and condescension,'' Brunner wrote. ''I cannot in good conscience appoint an individual to the board whose past behavior predicts the fostering of a similar unproductive environment.''
Brunner had given the party until the close of business Friday to name a replacement for Arshinkoff.
Challenge possible
Arshinkoff said the party's executive committee will hold an emergency meeting Monday to decide how to respond to Brunner's decision, which could include a challenge in the Ohio Supreme Court. He said Brunner should have gone back to the party if she wasn't happy with its nominee.
''We will fight this with everything we have,'' he said.
Daley is upset that he — like Arshinkoff — wasn't given the opportunity to defend himself before Brunner decided. He thinks he would have made a good board member.
''I wasn't given the opportunity to refute the hearsay allegations on which Brunner based her decision,'' said Daley, a retired financial executive who was president of Hudson City Council and the Ward 1 representative when he lost re-election in November. ''To me, that just offends my sense of fair play.''
As the state's chief elections officer, Brunner has the ultimate say on who sits on the four-person county elections boards. She must make appointments to the boards — made up of two Democrats and two Republicans who oversee elections in the county — by March 1. Board members are appointed to four-year terms.
Motives questioned
Arshinkoff accused Brunner of being part of a larger scheme involving Wayne Jones — the finance chairman of the Summit County Democratic Party and an elections board member — and Pete Kostoff, Jones' Republican law partner at Roetzel & Andress. Arshinkoff maintains that Kostoff is behind the attempt to replace him as chairman and wants to have both parties under the control of the same law firm.
''The secretary of state has chosen who they want to be the chairman of the Summit County Republican Party and put him on the board of elections,'' Arshinkoff said. ''I'm proud I haven't been endorsed by Jennifer Brunner and Wayne Jones.''
Patrick Gallaway, a spokesman for Brunner, said Brunner appointed the person ''she thought would be the best fit for the board.'' He said she was facing a midnight deadline for the appointment.
Varian said he's honored to be on the board and hopes he brings ''a degree of civility'' and ''professionalism'' to the body. He denied being part of any larger plan, as Arshinkoff has suggested.
''I'm an independent person,'' he said. ''I have all my life been.''
Varian represented Coughlin and his supporters at a Tuesday elections board meeting in which they were questioned about why they had not personally answered subpoenas for a January elections board meeting.
Coughlin pleased
Coughlin, R-Cuyahoga Falls, is leading an effort to oust Arshinkoff as chairman by gaining a majority on the county party's central committee in Tuesday's election. The committee must meet within 60 days of the election to decide the party's leadership.
''The rejection of Arshinkoff's hand-picked puppet is another victory for all who value free and fair elections,'' Coughlin said in a written release sent out at 7:09 p.m. Friday — before Brunner had officially announced her decision.
(Brunner provided the letter to the party, Dailey and the Beacon Journal at 8:33 p.m.).
Coughlin said he learned of Brunner's decision from Varian, whom Brunner had called to see whether he would accept the appointment.
Coughlin has been unwilling to name his suggested new chairman. Varian has said this decision will follow Tuesday's election but that he's ''not ruled out'' the possibility.
Jones, who has clashed with Arshinkoff during several recent board meetings, said he respects Varian. He said Varian knows election law.
''He is an honorable person,'' said Jones, who has denied that his law firm is behind the effort to remove Arshinkoff as chairman. ''That's what you're looking for.''
Jones said the board needs to get its ''integrity back.''
Stephanie Warsmith can be reached
at 330-996-3705 or
swarsmith@thebeaconjournal.com.
First, Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner removed Summit County Republican Chairman Alex Arshinkoff from the elections board seat he had held for nearly 30 years.
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