Guest Commentary: Ohio House District Primary Shows How Low the Bar Has Fallen for Principled Politics in the MAGA Era

A juicy drama is going on between Republicans in a northern Ohio legislative district that hugs Lake Erie. It’s a perfect microcosm of the low-bar politics afflicting our state and country.  The incumbent right-winger from Ohio House District 89 is state Rep. D.J. Swearingen. He walks the MAGA party line on everything from anti-trans bullying to dismantling gun safety laws, public health protections and environmental regulations.  

His embrace of the extreme made Swearingen a rising zealot in the Ohio House, even though he masquerades as a benign family guy in campaign flyers back home. In his GOP-friendly gerrymandered district covering Erie County, most of Ottawa County and parts of Huron County, the two-term Republican skates to reelection. But his next race may be less of a breeze.  

In 2023, juvenile infighting among Ohio House Republicans mirrored the same adolescent tantrums roiling U.S. House Republicans. Swearingen got on the wrong side of MAGA purists in the intraparty fight for Ohio House speaker by denying the position to a young, up-and-coming hardliner, state Rep. Derek Merrin-R, Monclova Township. 

Instead, Swearingen committed the unforgivable MAGA sin of collaborating with Democrats to pick Republican Jason Stephens, from rural southern Ohio, for the speakership. Furious Merrin supporters, who assumed their 38-year-old extremist had the job in the bag, declared open war on their rogue GOP colleagues. 

The Ohio Republican Party joined in the fray to chastise Republicans with different opinions who dared separate from the pack. It officially condemned Speaker Stephens and the 22 Republican turncoats who supported him over duty to party. The Republican-on-Republican schism never healed in the Ohio House and, in true MAGA foot-stomping obstinance, losers in the battle for speaker refused to recognize the duly elected Stephens as their leader. 

As partisan grudges hardened in the House GOP caucus, primary paybacks were promised. (Which brings us back to the juicy soap opera in the 89th District). Swearingen got primaried. By a convicted felon. Grab the popcorn. Sandusky Republican Steve Kraus, who epitomizes the post-shame politician, is trying to unseat Swearingen in the March 19th Republican primary election. 

The story goes downhill from there. Kraus is also a former state lawmaker. From the 89th District. Stay with me. In 2014, the professional auctioneer pulled an upset win in the district to oust the Democratic incumbent (and head of the Ohio Democratic Party) Chris Redfern. It was a big deal at the time. But only a few months into Kraus’ term he was out. 

The man was found guilty on felony theft charges — involving antiques taken from a home without the elderly owner’s permission — and immediately removed from office. Back in the day, a disgraced officeholder with such a disqualifying transgression would generally slink away from the public eye to preserve whatever shred of dignity remained. 

Once upon a time someone with a felony indictment and conviction would also be shunned as politically toxic, a hard no for any position of public trust. But once upon a time went away with shame in politics. Consider the utterly shameless criminal defendant facing 91 felony counts in four different criminal jurisdictions who’s on his way to a coronation as the 2024 Republican presidential nominee. 

The MAGA Party simply brushes aside their hero’s outrageous transgressions — from attempting to overthrow the government to threatening national security with pilfered classified documents and, oh, sexually assaulting and repeatedly defaming his victim. MAGA Republicans, with absolutely no moral courage, fall in line to endorse a twice-impeached malevolent narcissist who refused to recognize the will of the people in the last election, plotted to overturn the results, and may do so again.

So of course, Kraus sees how it works and is channeling the disgraced ex-president in his own comeback bid to recapture his “stolen” office. “Trump’s running to regain his seat that he believes was stolen from him in 2020. I’m running to regain my seat that I believe was unconstitutionally taken from me in 2015,” declared Kraus — about a felony conviction by a jury of his peers upheld on appeal and declined for review by the state supreme court. 

Ambition trumped truth but Kraus assumed none of that mattered on the MAGA train. Turns out it did. A Republican voter in the shoreline district challenged the felon candidacy of Kraus under Ohio law that bars anyone convicted of a felony from holding public office. That prohibition is only waived if the felon’s disqualifying offense is reversed, expunged or annulled. (None of which, it seems, applies to Kraus).

His felony conviction was sealed by a judge last year which means the criminal record continues to exist but can’t be disclosed — as opposed to expunged which means the record was destroyed. His lawyer argued the different terms with different ground rules were practically the same, so his client was good to go in the face-off with Swearingen. The local elections board agreed. 

But the protest over Kraus running as a disqualified felon persisted and the complaint ultimately landed at the state supreme court. However this melodrama in the 89th District between MAGA Republicans wrangling over partisan allegiance and adherence to law ends, the whole spectacle is sordid. How low the bar for principled politics has fallen in a tragic era of looking the other way.

This guest commentary was originally published by the Ohio Capital Journal and republished here with permission.