Board Of Elections Nixes Hicksville Candidate’s Plan

Accord­ing to a deci­sion by the Defi­ance County Board of Elec­tions, a Hicksville may­oral candidate’s Inde­pen­dent sta­tus is invalid. The board decided by a 3–1, that David Schoo­ley can­not run as an Inde­pen­dent for mayor in the Novem­ber gen­eral elec­tion due to his con­nec­tion with the Defi­ance County Demo­c­ra­tic Party. Now, Schoo­ley is promis­ing to chal­lenge that deci­sion. Schoo­ley said that he will mount a write-in can­di­dacy for mayor, if nec­es­sary. He has until 4 p.m. Aug. 24 to file if he so chooses. Mean­while, Attor­ney Tim Holts­berry of Defi­ance, who rep­re­sents Schoo­ley, cited pre­vi­ous court cases con­cern­ing Inde­pen­dent can­di­dates, which he sug­gested favored Schooley’s quest to uphold his Inde­pen­dent sta­tus. For the time being, Schooley’s dis­qual­i­fi­ca­tion now leaves Repub­li­can Diane Collins as the only may­oral can­di­date on the bal­lot this November.