TIFFIN, Ohio — Five months after state Rep. Gary Click barely survived a revolt from his right in the Republican primary, a local conservative group is publicly unloading on him — accusing the embattled lawmaker and ex-pastor of trying to sabotage its private event with Republican gubernatorial nominee Vivek Ramaswamy after Click was left off the guest list.

Coalition of Patriots II, a northwest Ohio group that identifies as constitutional conservative, accused Click Saturday of being “vindictive” and attempting to undermine an Oct. 1 event the group says it arranged with Ramaswamy for approximately 110 people.

Click has now announced his own Ramaswamy event in Tiffin on the same evening — beginning just one hour earlier.

“Please join us and help spread the word! I’m looking forward to bringing Vivek Ramaswamy to the 88th District for a Tiffin Town Hall!” Click wrote in a Facebook post promoting the event.

The accompanying advertisement lists the town hall for 5:30 p.m. Oct. 1 at the Marion Center at Tiffin University, 155 Miami St. It says the event is sponsored by Click and the Seneca County Republican Central Committee.

Coalition of Patriots II says its invitation-only question-and-answer event with Ramaswamy begins at 6:30 p.m. — exactly one hour after Click’s town hall is scheduled to begin.

The group says its event was arranged first, that Click was not invited and that Click sought his own Ramaswamy appearance after learning about the gathering.

Group says Click tried to undermine its event

Coalition of Patriots II tied the dispute directly to the bitter Republican primary that nearly cost Click his seat earlier this year.

“During the primary season several constitutional conservative groups didn’t agree with Rep. Click’s recent voting record and supported his Republican opponent Eric Watson,” the group said in a statement provided to TiffinOhio.net. “These individuals worked hard to get Mr. Watson’s message out and nearly upset Rep. Click’s third term efforts.”

The group accused Click of responding to those disagreements with personal attacks rather than attempting to repair relationships with conservatives who opposed him.

“Instead of trying to understand and address the differences Rep. Click followed his past antics of name calling, which seems to be a strategy of his,” the group wrote. “He tries to publicly tarnish the reputations of those who disagree with him.”

That fight, the group says, has now spilled into the fall campaign.

Coalition of Patriots II said a constitutional conservative grassroots group arranged for Ramaswamy to attend the Oct. 1 question-and-answer session with approximately 110 voters.

Click was not invited, according to the group.

“When Rep. Click learned he was not one of the invited, he then attempted to undermine the conservative groups meeting by trying to schedule his own meeting with the candidate the same evening,” the group wrote.

Click subsequently announced the 5:30 p.m. Ramaswamy town hall at Tiffin University.

The Coalition’s event is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.

“So a constitutional conservative group of people who wanted to hear Mr. Ramaswamy speak, scheduled an event and because of the vindictiveness of Rep. Click he tried to sabotage that event,” the group wrote.

The group said the approximately 110 people invited to its gathering were prepared to become active Ramaswamy supporters if they liked what they heard.

“What Rep. Click did was not done to move the Republican Party or its candidates forward, but was to satisfy a grudge he holds against those who oppose him,” the group wrote. “That is how he wields the power of politics.”

Despite Click’s newly announced town hall, the Coalition says Ramaswamy is still attending its event.

“Despite all of Rep. Click’s efforts, Mr. Ramaswamy is still attending the conservative groups event,” it wrote.

The two announced appearances are scheduled only an hour apart. Click’s advertisement lists a 5:30 p.m. start time but does not give an ending time.

Click escaped his primary by 599 votes

The fight follows a Republican primary in which Click came within 599 votes of losing the nomination to first-time challenger Eric Watson.

Click defeated Watson 6,859 to 6,260 — 52.28% to 47.72% — out of 13,119 Republican votes cast across Seneca and Sandusky counties.

Click also lost Seneca County to Watson, surviving only after a stronger showing in his home county of Sandusky.

Nearly 48% of Republican primary voters in the district voted for Watson instead of the three-term incumbent.

The primary also exposed a wider rupture between Click and organizations on his political right.

Ohio Gun Owners backed Watson and initially gave Click a C-minus rating before later downgrading him to an F. End Abortion Ohio also endorsed Watson after Click declined to complete its candidate survey.

Click did not quietly disagree with the groups.

In March, Click called End Abortion Ohio “clowns” after the organization endorsed Watson and said he would refuse its endorsement “under any condition.”

Click also called Ohio Gun Owners leader Chris Dorr a “fraud” amid their fight over gun legislation.

The primary did not end the feud.

Watson later refused to endorse Click, even after the two met following the election. Watson said their meeting failed to resolve disagreements over issues including data centers and digital identification.

The same conservative rupture that nearly cost Click the Republican nomination is still visible months later.

Ramaswamy has been pulled into the feud before

This is not the first time Ramaswamy has become part of the fight between Click and conservatives challenging him from the right.

During the primary, Click temporarily disappeared from a list of legislative endorsements on Ramaswamy’s campaign website.

Watson seized on the removal, calling Click “a liability” to the Republican ticket. Click was later restored to the endorsement page.

Now Ramaswamy is again at the center of a dispute involving Click and conservative activists who remain angry months after the primary.

Coalition of Patriots II closed its Saturday statement with a direct attack on Click’s representation of the district.

“Because of this and similar past behavior is Rep. Click suitable or worthy to represent the people of Seneca and Sandusky Counties?” the group wrote. “Clearly he is not!!”

Click is seeking a fourth and final term representing Ohio House District 88, which includes all of Seneca and Sandusky counties. He faces Democrat Aaron Jones of Tiffin in the Nov. 3 general election.

Five months after Click escaped the Republican primary by 599 votes, the conservative revolt that nearly cost him the nomination has not gone away.