The Ballot or Bust: A Blueprint to Revive Lorain’s GOP
Why Lorain’s Republican Revival Begins with a Ballot — and How We Can Force One Every Year
May 26, 2025
By Aaron C. Knapp, Investigative Journalist, Candidate 6th Ward Lorain City
May 2025
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In Lorain, Republicans aren’t just losing elections. We’re losing the right to vote as Republicans at all.
As Ohio law currently stands, party affiliation isn’t something you register when you sign up to vote. It’s determined by the primary ballot you pull. If you don’t vote in your party’s primary? You’re listed as unaffiliated. If your party doesn’t have a contested primary? You don’t even get a ballot.
And that’s exactly what’s happening to Republicans in Lorain.
During the 2025 primary, I was a certified Republican candidate for Lorain City Council Ward 6. Yet when I showed up to vote early, I was told no Republican ballot existed. I wasn’t alone. Republican voters across Lorain were offered only a Democratic or issues-only ballot. In essence, we were stripped of our political identity because no Republican primary had been triggered.
Why? Because Ohio law cancels primary elections for any race where only one candidate files. That candidate is deemed nominated, and the ballot never appears. No ballot? No way for voters to affiliate. No affiliation? No Republican presence in the voter rolls. And every cycle this happens, our base erodes.
If this pattern continues, Lorain Republicans will become a memory.
The Law That Silences Us
Under Ohio Revised Code §3513.05, party affiliation is tied to primary participation. As the law states: “Each voter at a primary election shall be considered to be a member of a political party whose ballot the voter votes.” The Ohio Election Official Manual reinforces this by stating that “an individual’s party affiliation is determined by the political party whose ballot the voter chooses to vote in a primary election.” If you skip the primary for two years, you’re labeled “No Party” by the state. The kicker? If a Republican runs unopposed, the primary is canceled, meaning no one can vote in it — and thus, no one can affiliate as a Republican.
It’s a vicious cycle. Without contested primaries, our voters don’t get ballots. Without ballots, we lose registered Republicans. Without registered Republicans, we look like a party that doesn’t exist. And in Lorain, Democrats already dominate every citywide office.
That’s why we need to fight back. Not in November — in May.
The Strategy: Contest Every Race, Every Time
To revive the Republican base in Lorain, we need to make sure there is always a Republican primary ballot. And under Ohio law, that means at least two Republican candidates must file in every key race.
It doesn’t matter if one candidate doesn’t campaign, or drops out later. It doesn’t matter if one runs to win and the other is just helping trigger the primary. The key is: Republican voters must have a primary ballot to vote on.
That starts with a step-by-step plan:
- Target At-Large and Citywide Offices: These seats reach the most voters. Focus on Council At-Large, Council President, Auditor, Clerk of Courts, and Mayor.
- Run Two GOP Candidates Per Race: The second candidate can be a placeholder. Their purpose is to activate the ballot. Recruit early, and support them.
- Use the Law to Our Advantage: Candidates can file by primary deadlines. If only one files, the BOE cancels the race. But with two, the race is on.
- Reinforce Affiliation Drives: Remind voters that pulling a Republican ballot keeps them on the books for two years. Without it, they vanish from our rolls.
- Turn Primary Day Into a Mobilization Tool: Advertise the fact that a Republican ballot is available. Promote the candidates. Encourage participation.
- Leverage State Reform: Support Senate Bill 147, which would modernize Ohio’s party affiliation rules. We need year-round tools to update voter status.
What Does It Really Cost?
Some argue it’s not worth the effort to run Republicans in deep-blue cities like Lorain.
But the truth is, it costs very little — and the return could be transformational.
Running for city office in Lorain doesn’t require massive war chests. The filing fee is minimal. The signatures required are achievable. At worst, you spend a few evenings knocking on doors and paying a nominal fee to appear on the ballot.
At best? You give Republican voters a reason to show up. You give them a ballot. You keep them affiliated. You keep the party alive. And you remind Lorain that we haven’t given up.
If the Lorain GOP had contested just one more citywide race each cycle, our voters would have had a Republican ballot. That alone would’ve kept thousands from being reclassified as “unaffiliated.” It would have made every voter engagement drive, every phone bank, every endorsement that much easier.
The effort to gather signatures? $0. The filing fee? Around $45. The opportunity to show your community that Republicans are still here and still fighting? Priceless.
Data Doesn’t Lie
Lorain County’s voter turnout data over recent years reveals a concerning trend for Republican engagement, particularly in city elections:
- 2022 Primary Election: Out of 216,616 registered voters, 45,676 ballots were cast (21.09% turnout). Republicans accounted for 26,128 of these ballots, while Democrats cast 17,992.
- 2023 Primary Election: With 216,088 registered voters, only 28,552 ballots were cast, resulting in a 13.21% turnout. Republican ballots numbered 9,284, surpassing the 6,820 Democratic ballots.
- 2024 Primary Election: Out of 220,316 registered voters, 49,099 ballots were cast (22.29% turnout). Republicans cast 27,060 ballots, Democrats 20,796.
- 2025 Primary/Special Election: From 223,085 registered voters, 34,050 ballots were cast (15.26% turnout).
These figures indicate that while Republican participation has seen fluctuations, there is a persistent issue of low turnout, especially in years with uncontested races.
The absence of Republican candidates in local races leads to uncontested elections, which in turn results in the cancellation of Republican primaries. This not only diminishes voter engagement but also affects party affiliation, as voters are unable to pull a Republican ballot, leading to a decline in registered Republicans over time.
This isn’t just a Lorain problem. Nationally, 70% of 2024 races were uncontested. And in those races, Republicans won 80% — but that success is misleading. Without ballot contests, voters disengage, and the local party suffers.
Groups like Contest Every Race have recognized this problem and have recruited nearly 12,000 placeholder candidates to ensure that ballots are contested, thereby maintaining voter engagement and party visibility. We can do the same here.
Rebuilding the Base
This isn’t just about winning elections. It’s about building an identity — and identity has consequences:
- Create candidate pipelines: Recruit business owners, veterans, retirees, students.
- Incentivize participation: Offer training, mentorship, and party support.
- Show up in the community: Run charity events, cleanup drives, voter forums.
- Invest in youth: Bring Republican ideas to high schools, colleges, trade groups.
- Protect campaign infrastructure: Party affiliation affects access to campaign finance support, party data systems, and coordinated campaign funding. Candidates in unaffiliated districts often lose out on state and national GOP resources.
- Secure recognition: Strong affiliation numbers can influence whether a local GOP club is recognized by the state party and how many delegates are granted to county or state conventions.
- Create candidate pipelines: Recruit business owners, veterans, retirees, students.
- Incentivize participation: Offer training, mentorship, and party support.
- Show up in the community: Run charity events, cleanup drives, voter forums.
- Invest in youth: Bring Republican ideas to high schools, colleges, trade groups.
A ballot is a symbol. If it’s missing, so is our voice. If we want to revive the Republican Party in Lorain, we have to fight for that ballot — even if it means contesting races we might not win. Because the long game isn’t just about who takes the oath. It’s about who gets to show up.
Addressing the Naysayers
Some critics may argue that this strategy — deliberately fielding multiple Republican candidates in uncontested local races — could harm the party by encouraging internal division or “wasting” resources. Others may fear that legislative fixes like Senate Bill 147, which modernizes party affiliation rules, would backfire in a red state like Ohio by making registration more rigid.
But here’s the truth: Ohio is already a red state. Statewide offices are dominated by Republicans. The legislature is controlled by Republicans. If anything, a clear, strong Republican identity benefits from tighter affiliation rules — not the other way around. SB 147 doesn’t suppress Republican power; it clarifies and protects it. It helps us know who our voters are, how to reach them, and how to activate them year-round.
Here in Lorain, however, Republicans are losing ground not because we’re outnumbered — but because we’re not on the field. In the 2023 primary, Republicans outnumbered Democrats at the ballot box in Lorain County — yet Democrats swept every city office. Why? Because Democrats had names on the ballot. Republicans didn’t. It’s not that the voters don’t exist. It’s that we haven’t given them a reason to show up.
Compare that to 2024, when Republican turnout surged with high-profile races on the ballot. In that cycle, Republicans cast 27,060 primary ballots in Lorain County — far more than Democrats. That spike didn’t happen because of magic. It happened because there was something to vote for.
Creating contested primaries doesn’t fracture our party — it fortifies it. It builds name recognition. It activates volunteers. It brings out dormant voters who’ve had no reason to engage. And yes, sometimes, it produces real competition — the lifeblood of any functioning democracy.
The reality in Lorain is that the problem isn’t that we have too many Republicans on the ballot — it’s that we have too few. We’re not splitting votes, we’re forfeiting the contest altogether. By investing in primaries — even symbolic ones — we trigger ballots, keep our base engaged, and maybe even surprise ourselves. Because while voter apathy is real, so is voter fatigue with Democrat rule in Lorain. The only reason they keep winning is because we keep letting them. We’re not chasing the votes. We’re not putting up a fight.
This plan isn’t a gimmick. It’s a bridge. It’s a chance to wake up our base and remind them what it means to have a choice. And with the right investment, it could be the beginning of a Republican resurgence in places that have all but written us off.
Final Word
As of now, I am the only Republican candidate running for city council in Lorain. That should change. We need veterans who’ve served their country to now serve their community. We need small business owners who understand how policy impacts the bottom line. We need retirees with wisdom, students with energy, and everyday residents who care about their neighborhoods to step forward. You don’t have to be a career politician—you just have to believe in restoring choice, transparency, and real representation. If you’re reading this and wondering if you could be that second name on the ballot, the answer is yes.
That should change.
If we want a Republican future in Lorain, we need to create Republican ballots today. That means running candidates, even if it’s just to make the ballot exist. It means outsmarting the rules that are quietly wiping us off the books. It means understanding that rebuilding a party isn’t just about November. It starts every May.
If you believe in this mission, I’m asking you: run. Help. Vote. Share this. Because the next time they say, “There’s no Republican ballot,” we need to answer with two simple words:
Not anymore.
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