In a year that national Democrats and some state Democrats believe may lean their way, the local Democratic Party is having a time keeping a slate of candidates to even take on Republicans.
When the Hamilton County Election Commission recently approved the ballot for the November election, the name of the winner of the August District 26 state House Democratic primary, Nathan Denton, was not on it.
Denton won a close primary over Lucian LaFae on Aug. 6 with 51.74% of the 4,869 Democratic votes cast. The next day, he put these words on his campaign Facebook site: “I am no longer campaigning or an active candidate for this race.”
Why he is no longer a candidate is unclear, but Demetrus Coonrod, independent candidate for the District 28 state House seat, posted on a social media site prior to the August election that to her understanding, “Nathan is incarcerated.”
Art Rymer, the Democrat who is on the recently approved ballot to oppose District 30 state Rep. Esther Helton-Haynes, posted on his campaign website this message: “Due to frustration with the local and state Democratic parties, I am currently not campaigning for office.”