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Doug Livingston|Akron Beacon Journal

Republican Mike Rasor is looking again to get back into public office with an announcement Wednesday that hell run for clerk of courts in Stow.

The Stow Municipal Clerk of Courts race is unique in that the political parties hold primaries in May for candidates who run without party labels on the general election ballot in November. Tom Bevan, chair of the Summit County Democratic Party, said hes unaware of any fellow Democrats challenging incumbent Amber Zibritosky in the May 4 primary.

Zibritosky was appointed to the position in 2019. She held the seat by defeating three opponents that fall, including Republican Jeff Iula.

After reaching the term limiton Stow City Council, Rasor narrowly lost a 2018 statehouse race against Democrat Casey Weinstein and gathered 44% of the vote in his 2020 loss toSandra Kurt, who held her seat as Summit County Clerk of Courts.

The Stow Municipal Court serves 330,000 residents from 16 northern Summit County communities including: Boston Heights, Boston Township, Cuyahoga Falls, Hudson, Macedonia, Munroe Falls, Northfield, Northfield Center Township, Peninsula, Reminderville, Sagamore Hills, Silver Lake, Stow, Tallmadge, Twinsburg, and Twinsburg Township.

In announcing his candidacy hours before the 4 p.m.Feb. 3 filing deadline, Rasor touted his record as a fiscal conservative, saying he served as president of Stow City Council during a time when debt fell, funding for roads and police increased,and no new taxes were passed.

For 10 years, I had the humbling opportunity to serve my community on Stow City Council, Rasor said in his emailed statement. We made the government competent, fiscally conservative, and accountable to residents. I will take these same goals to the Clerks office.

Stow municipal clerks serve six-year terms.

Nonpartisans who plan to run against Zibritosky or Rasor must turn in petition signatures by May 3, the day before the partisan primaries.

Summit County Republican Party Chair Bryan Williams has said he is hoping to see fewer candidates in the general election, blaming the crowded field in 2019 for syphoning votes away from Iula, a Republican on Cuyahoga Falls City Council.

Williams is trying to strike a deal to give Rasor a better chance in thegeneral election by settling an old feud between the party andJudge Kim Hoover, an independent who wields influence at theStow Municipal Court. In the past, Hoover has supported candidates who've run against Republicans for the clerk of courts race.

Williams is lobbying the governor to appointHoover's daughter, family law attorney Corinne Hoover Six,as the next Summit County Domestic Relations judge. Gov. Mike DeWine has yet to announce his pick for the one seat in the domestic relations court, where the judgeships are now controlledby theRepublican Party.

Reach reporter Doug Livingston at dlivingston@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3792.

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Mike Rasor runs in second clerk of courts race in as many years - Akron Beacon Journal