Republican's Transgender Stepdaughter Kicked Off Ballot

Hold us accountable by rating this article's fairness A transgender woman who hoped to run for the Ohio House of Representatives has criticized a decision to disqualify her from the race after she failed to use her former name. Vanessa Joy, who is the stepdaughter of state Representative Bill Roemer, collected all the necessary signatures to run as a Democratic candidate for House District 50, but she was barred from the election after officials said she violated a recondite Ohio law.

Although Joy and Roemer have familial ties, the two do not have a relationship and have never met. The law states that candidates for public office have to list any name changes from the past five years on their signature petitions. Joy, who has legally changed her name, criticized the campaign rule.

"I would have had to have my dead name on my petitions," Joy told News 5 Cleveland. "But in the trans community, our dead names are dead; there's a reason it's dead—that is a dead person who is gone and buried." A dead name is a term used by the transgender community to describe a former name.

Joy said she wasn't aware of the little known law. "Something that is that important should have been on the instructions," she said. "It should have been on the petition." The rule is also not found in the secretary of state's 2024 candidate guide, according to the local outlet.

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