TIFFIN, Ohio — State Rep. Gary Click told supporters this month that it had the backing of a Tiffin city councilman. The councilman — a Republican — says that isn’t so.
On Friday, July 3, at 4:04 p.m., Click’s campaign Facebook page posted a photo of two men in matching white T-shirts reading “America 250” and “Gary Click / State Rep.” The caption read: “I am honored to have the support of Tiffin City Councilman Kevin Roessner.”
Roessner, who represents Tiffin’s 3rd Ward and chairs City Council’s Finance Committee, said he has not endorsed Click in the November race for Ohio House District 88 — and that the shirt in the photo came from the campaign itself.
“My goal was simply to participate in the historic 250th celebration alongside fellow community leaders, not to campaign—the shirt was offered solely for the event from a patriotic perspective,” Roessner told TiffinOhio.net. He said he has no plans to make endorsements and will “continue to keep my voting choices personal.”
Roessner is listed among Tiffin’s elected officials on the Seneca County Republican Party’s website, alongside five council colleagues. Tiffin council seats are filed on a non-partisan basis under the city’s open primary system.
“For a well-rounded view, I attend lots of events to get exposure and learn about elected officials and candidates,” Roessner said, pointing to his recent attendance at a campaign event with Democratic congressional candidate Brian Shaver of Fostoria. “My goal is to learn what they can do for Tiffin and not so much their ideology.”
Click’s post is still up
Roessner said he moved to head off confusion once he saw the post. “I saw that post and reshared it with context on my Facebook page to help avoid confusion,” he wrote.
Click’s original post remained online, unchanged, as of Friday, July 24 — three weeks after it was published.
Attempts to reach Click for comment were unsuccessful.
A cycle of Republicans stepping back
Click has spent the election year bleeding Republican support in public.
In April, Vivek Ramaswamy’s gubernatorial campaign removed Click from its official endorsements page, a change confirmed by Web Archive snapshots, before restoring his name within about two hours of TiffinOhio.net documenting it.
Ohio Gun Owners cut his rating from a C-minus to an F five days before the May primary.
When End Abortion Ohio endorsed his primary challenger, Click called the group “clowns” on Facebook and drew pushback from his own supporters in the comments.
Multiple candidates endorsed by Click lost their primaries.
The councilman and the candidate’s opponent
Click, a Vickery Republican, is seeking a fourth term representing House District 88, which covers all of Seneca and Sandusky counties. He faces Democrat Aaron Jones in the Nov. 3 general election. Click won a contested Republican primary in May over challenger Eric Watson by roughly 4 percentage points while losing Seneca County.
Jones is Roessner’s colleague on Tiffin City Council. Jones represents the 1st Ward and sits on the Finance Committee that Roessner chairs; Roessner in turn sits on the Materials & Equipment Committee that Jones chairs, according to the city’s council roster. The two also serve together on the Streets, Sidewalks & Sewers Committee.
Roessner did not address the race or either candidate’s campaign in his statement beyond a closing note.
“I wish all candidates and their campaigns the very best,” he wrote, “and urge the public to research all candidates and issues prior to the election.”
