The Stark County Board of Elections rejected a protest by a U.S. Rep. Michael Rulli ally to the candidacy of Jullie Kelley, the only other Republican running in the 6th Congressional District.

The board voted Tuesday to keep Kelley on the May 5 Republican primary ballot after a hearing in which David C. Spencer of East Liverpool, who was Rulli’s campaign consultant in 2024, contended she should be disqualified as a candidate.

Kelley, of Monroe, barely made it on to the primary ballot when the Stark board ruled Feb. 17 that she had 50 valid signatures, the minimum number needed to qualify. Stark board employees initially found only 49 signatures to be valid among the 62 Kelley submitted on nominating petitions for the congressional primary. But the board ruled a printed signature — rather than a cursive signed one, which is typically required — was valid and certified Kelley to the ballot.

Spencer, who runs the Spencer Federal political consulting firm in East Liverpool, filed a protest asking the Stark board to reconsider the printed signature it allowed from a Carroll County voter as well as to disqualify a signature from a registered Democrat.

The board agreed to disqualify the signature from the registered Democrat, which would have put Kelley at 49.

Not only didn’t the board reject Spencer’s request to reconsider the printed signature, but Kelley at Tuesday’s hearing provided affidavits from two other people who printed their names attesting that they signed the petitions. That gives Kelley 51 valid signatures.

Boards of elections regularly don’t count printed signatures unless a candidate can get sworn affidavits from those people stating that’s how they sign their names or have them testify at protest hearings about how they sign their names.

In his protest letter, Spencer wrote: “Because the number of valid signatures fell below the statutory threshold, the petition is legally insufficient and the candidacy must be rejected.”

The Stark board heard the protest because the county is the 6th District’s most populous and where candidates for that position file nominating petitions.

Had Kelley not been certified, Rulli of Salem would have run unopposed in the Republican primary for the 6th Congressional District seat.

Rulli was first elected to the position during a June 2024 special election and then to the current two-year term he is serving in November 2024. Rulli was also twice elected to the Ohio Senate.

Kelley ran in 2023 for Monroe Township trustee in Carroll County, finishing last with 9% of the vote.

Seven Democrats filed to run for the Democratic nomination for the seat. The six whose names will appear on the ballot are Sean Connolly of Canfield, Malcolm Ritchie of Dover, Adrian Vitus of Poland, Brent Hanni of Youngstown, Charles DiPalma of Steubenville and Elizabeth Kirtley of New Philadelphia. Also, Christopher Lafont of Bethesda filed as a Democratic write-in candidate.

The primary for each party is May 5 with the winners moving to the Nov. 3 general election.

As a result of congressional redistricting, the 6th, starting with this election, will include most of Mahoning and Stark counties as well as all of Columbiana, Jefferson, Carroll, Belmont, Harrison and Tuscarawas counties and parts of Wayne and Holmes counties.

The district currently includes all of Mahoning, which is its most-populous county. With redistricting, Mahoning is now the second most-populous as parts were moved to the 14th Congressional District.

Stark and Mahoning combined make up about 46% of the congressional district’s population.

The 6th District favors Republicans 63.9% to 36.1% for Democrats based on partisan statewide voting results between 2016 and 2024, according to the Ohio Redistricting Commission.