Ohio Libertarians, alleging Republican political meddling, are trying to prevent a Cleveland-area man from appearing on the May primary ballot as a U.S. Senate candidate.

The fight could influence a race with national implications.

Kristen Wichers, a former Libertarian Statehouse candidate from Fairfield County, filed a complaint on Friday with the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office protesting Jeffrey Kanter’s candidacy.

Wichers said her protest challenges the validity of 993 of the roughly 1,323 voter signatures Kanter submitted with his campaign paperwork. If the challenge is successful, it could disqualify Kanter from the ballot.

The protest challenges the signatures under various grounds, including:

• 85 voter signatures that Wichers said were gathered by an Ohio man with a recent election fraud conviction, which the complaint says should automatically make them invalid
• Dozens of signatures that were gathered by petition circulators who aren’t affiliated with the Libertarian party. The complaint argues that Ohio law requires circulators to be affiliated with the party for which they’re collecting signatures
• Multiple signatures that appear to have been made by the same person
• Signatures that appear to be a single letter, not a complete signature, which the complaint says make them invalid

Under state law, Secretary of State Frank LaRose will set a legal hearing soon to consider the claims. Kanter could attend and challenge the complaint. Kanter needs 500 signatures to qualify for the ballot, which means the challenge must successfully disqualify roughly 823 signatures to block him from the ballot.

The complaint was filed on Friday, the deadline to protest a candidate’s eligibility. The day before, LaRose provisionally certified Kanter’s candidacy, along with a slew of other statewide candidates, after county elections workers found he’d submitted enough valid signatures.

In an interview, Wichers said she suspects Kanter is a plant on behalf of the Republican Party meant to foil the candidacy of the Libertarian Party’s preferred U.S. Senate candidate, Bill Redpath of the Toledo area. 

The Libertarian Party has filed to run candidates in several statewide races and some of Ohio’s closest congressional districts, creating the potential for the party to serve as a spoiler in multiple key races during what could be a strong year for Democrats. 

Wichers said Republicans have a history of “messing with” the Libertarian Party, including protesting the party’s 2014 candidate for governor and passing laws that make it harder for minor parties to receive official state recognition. 

And this year, there’s a potentially close, high-profile U.S. Senate race between Republican Sen. Jon Husted and his Democratic challenger, former Sen. Sherrod Brown. Democrats hope to flip the seat as part of their uphill path to re-take control of the U.S. Senate.

Wichers said Republicans have an incentive to try to block Redpath, who unlike Kanter, she said, is an active Libertarian Party member, from appearing on the ballot.

“It’s my opinion that the Republicans do what they like to do and got somebody to file as a Libertarian and hopefully beat our candidate in the primary. And then he would withdraw or tank his campaign in some way,” Wichers said.

Signal has attempted to contact Kanter seeking comment for this story.

More about Jeffrey Kanter 

Kanter, 71, is a resident of Shaker Heights who works as a health care consultant. He has a recent history of political involvement – in 2025, he was a leader with a group called the Patient First Coalition, which a press release says was formed to support Robert F. Kennedy’s nomination as President Donald Trump’s U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services. 

Shannon Burns, a Republican political consultant from Strongsville who’s closely involved with the state GOP, also served in leadership for the PFC. Burns said in a brief interview on Monday he is aware of Kanter’s senate candidacy, but didn’t know much about it.

Kanter has been involved with the Libertarian Party in the past. He pulled a Libertarian ballot in 2010, according to state voting records, and is a member of the Cuyahoga County Libertarian Party Facebook group. 

But he’s also voted in numerous Republican Party primary elections, most recently in March 2024. 

Assuming he appears on the ballot for the May 5 primary, Kanter will face Redpath, a financial professional from the Toledo area. Redpath’s campaign website says he’s run as a Libertarian Party candidate nine times. 

Why the Libertarian Party could matter more this year

The Libertarian Party is what Ohio law considers an officially recognized minor party – a recognition it gained in 2024 after gathering more than 49,000 signatures.

As an official minor party, the Libertarian Party is newly eligible to hold primary elections, and its party name now officially appears on the ballot next to its candidates’ names. It also faces a lower threshold to qualify for the statewide ballot, requiring only 500 valid voter signatures, rather than the 5,000 it previously needed, and the 1,000 signatures major parties must obtain.

Along with the official recognition, Libertarians are fielding candidates for more elected offices. As the party appears in more close races, it has a greater potential to act as a spoiler in favor of Democrats, since Libertarian voters often lean conservative.

A recent example came in November 2024, when Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur won reelection by less than 1 percentage point. Tom Pruss, the Libertarian candidate in the race, meanwhile, got 4 percent of the vote.

Other races that feature Libertarian candidates

The party has candidates running for two statewide races besides U.S. Senate: governor (Don Kissick) and Ohio Secretary of State (Pruss, the former congressional candidate.)

Libertarian candidates have also filed to run in most of Ohio’s most competitive congressional races. John Hancock is running for Ohio’s 1st Congressional District, represented by Democratic Rep. Greg Landsman. The district is a potential pickup opportunity for Republicans and, on paper, is Ohio’s most competitive congressional district.

Libertarians are also running in three Republican-held congressional districts that could be winnable for Democrats in a strong national political environment. 

Brian Duvall-Gambino is running for Ohio’s 7th Congressional District, represented by Republican Rep. Max Miller. Thomas McMasters is running for Ohio’s 10th Congressional District, represented by Republican Rep. Mike Turner. And Brennan Barrington is running for Ohio’s 15th Congressional District, represented by Republican Rep. Mike Carey. 

Two Libertarians – David Gedert and Matthew Althaus – have filed to run for Ohio’s 9th Congressional District, represented by Kaptur, who’s considered one of the most vulnerable Democratic congressmembers in the country.