Stuart Moats filed paperwork with the Ohio Secretary of State on Wednesday afternoon to withdraw as Heather Hill’s lieutenant governor running mate — a move that, under Ohio law, effectively ends Hill’s bid for the Republican nomination for governor 13 days before the May 5 primary.

Moats announced the withdrawal in a video posted to his Facebook page at roughly 4 p.m., filmed outside the Secretary of State’s office. He captioned the post “Lying Heather Hill’s Bid for Governor Officially Ended Today.”

“Today’s a good day,” Moats said. “I’m standing outside the Secretary of State’s office building and I have with me the official letter of resignation which officially ends Heather Hill’s bid for governor.”

Hill, in a statement posted to her campaign Facebook page about an hour later, disputed Moats’ characterization and told supporters to keep voting for her.

What Ohio law says

Moats’ claim about the legal effect of his filing is essentially correct.

Under Ohio Revised Code 3513.30, candidates for governor and lieutenant governor run as a joint ticket. The statute provides that if a lieutenant governor candidate withdraws more than 70 days before a primary, both names are removed from the ballot. But if the withdrawal is filed fewer than 70 days before the primary — as Moats’ withdrawal Wednesday was — the names remain on the ballot and any votes cast for the ticket are void.

The 70-day threshold for the May 5 primary was late February. That deadline passed roughly two months before Hill’s public split with Moats last weekend.

A spokesperson for Secretary of State Frank LaRose confirmed that reading of the law to NBC4 Columbus on Monday, after Hill announced she intended to replace Moats.

“Bottom Line: If a candidate for lieutenant governor withdraws less than seventy days before a primary election, the joint candidacy for governor and lieutenant governor no longer qualifies to receive votes in the primary election,” the spokesperson said.

Ohio’s ballot-printing deadline for the May 5 primary has passed, meaning Hill’s name will still appear on ballots cast Wednesday and through Election Day. Early in-person voting began April 7, and county boards of elections will be required under state law to post notices at polling locations and to include them with absentee ballots informing voters that votes for the withdrawn ticket will not be counted.

Hill: keep voting for me

Hill did not concede in her response Wednesday. In a Facebook post roughly an hour after Moats’ video, she framed his withdrawal as an orchestrated attempt to sabotage her campaign and urged her supporters to continue voting for her on May 5.

“As you know, my ex lieutenant governor filed paperwork to have himself removed from my ballot today,” Hill wrote. “He believed by doing this it would remove me from the ballot and keep me from winning the May primary! We will continue to fight we will continue to stand.”

“I ask you to please continue to vote for HEATHER HILL!” Hill wrote. “Please continue to let your voice be heard!! We will fight this with attorneys and the legal system.”

The secretary of state’s interpretation of ORC 3513.30 indicates votes cast for the Hill ticket on May 5 will not be counted, regardless of whether voters heed her call. Hill did not cite a specific legal theory under which votes for her ticket would remain valid, and her post did not name an attorney.

Hill ended the post: “With Jesus Christ on our side, we will be victorious.”

A week of escalating feuds

Moats’ withdrawal caps a five-day public meltdown between the two candidates that played out across Facebook, YouTube, leaked text messages, and, on Wednesday, a direct comment from Moats on TiffinOhio.net’s own Facebook page.

Hill announced Saturday evening she was dropping Moats over “irreconcilable differences,” accusing him in subsequent posts of inappropriate touching, disrespecting his wife, and using a racial slur against her. Moats denied the allegations and responded with YouTube videos including graphic personal attacks on Hill’s appearance and an ableist slur against her husband.

On Tuesday, Hill escalated further with a Facebook post making broader allegations against Moats, including unverified claims about his military service and criminal history, and asking Gov. Mike DeWine and Ohio Department of Public Safety Director Andy Wilson to provide her with a taxpayer-funded state security detail.

Moats responded in a comment on TiffinOhio.net’s Facebook coverage Tuesday, calling Hill’s allegations defamatory and questioning whether the U.S. military would have limited his discipline to “reprimanded and counseled” for the conduct Hill alleged. “Wouldn’t the military arrest, court martial, send to jail, and dishonorably discharge anyone who did that?” he wrote. He described himself as “a highly decorated, retired officer with an honorable discharge/retirement.”

TiffinOhio.net has not independently verified the military or personal records of either candidate.

What happens now

Hill’s name will remain on ballots printed for the May 5 primary. Under ORC 3513.30, Ohio’s 88 county boards of elections are required to post notice at polling locations that votes cast for the Hill ticket are void and will not be counted, and to include the same notice with any absentee ballots mailed after Moats’ withdrawal was filed.

The effect is functional, if not technical: barring successful litigation by Hill, the Republican primary for governor is now a two-ticket race between Vivek Ramaswamy and Ohio Senate President Rob McColley, and Tiffin native Casey Putsch and Warren County Republican Central Committee member Kim Georgeton.

Ramaswamy, endorsed by President Donald Trump and Gov. DeWine, remains the heavy front-runner. A poll released earlier this week showed him leading Hill and Putsch by 64 points. The winner will face former Ohio health director Dr. Amy Acton, who is running unopposed in the Democratic primary, in the Nov. 3 general election.

Hill, 49, is a Morgan County businesswoman and former Morgan Local School District board president who centered her campaign on abolishing Ohio’s property tax. Moats, a retired U.S. Air Force major who stars in the Prime Video and YouTube reality series “Unstable Lumberjacks,” joined Hill’s ticket Jan. 8. The pair filed joint candidacy paperwork Feb. 3 — one day before the Feb. 4 candidate filing deadline and 20 days before the 70-day withdrawal window closed.

In his Wednesday video, Moats signed off with a reference to the adage “it’s not over until the fat lady sings.”

“The crazy thing,” Moats said, “I didn’t know she could sing so well. But the ‘you know what’ lady has just sung today.”