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Election losers should move on

Losing is hard — and for some in politics, accepting defeat is impossible.

Outgoing President Donald Trump, and many of his supporters, refuse to accept the fact that he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.

Trump continues to tweet falsehoods (to be polite) to outright lies (to be accurate) about the election such as this Tuesday in all capital letters: “THE DEMOCRATS DUMPED HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF BALLOTS IN THE SWING STATES LATE IN THE EVENING. IT WAS A RIGGED ELECTION!!”

A day later he claimed there was “massive voter fraud,” and “this was the most corrupt election in the history of our country.”

Trump incorrectly tweeted he won in a “landslide” in Wisconsin and that “we will easily win Presidential State race” in Georgia, even though the Electoral College in both states, and the nation, confirmed Biden won.

Included in the latest Mahoning County Republican Party email, sent Monday, is this statement: “It is our hope that President Trump will have his second Inauguration Day on January 20, 2021! Let’s hope that the lawyers, judges and courts have the courage to look at all the facts.”

Later, the email states: “This election is not over yet. There are too many unanswered questions, too many affidavits, too many witnesses and too much doubt about the true outcome. It’s time for our leaders, judges and courts to take their blinders off and take a closer look.”

When I asked if Biden was the president-elect, U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson, R-Marietta, a huge Trump supporter, said: “While it’s undoubtedly true that the Electoral College voted to make Joe Biden our 46th president, it’s also true that the 2020 election was tainted with credible allegations of voter fraud, irregularities and media bias at a level not seen in the modern era. It will take many years before tens of millions of voters will trust the system again.”

In reality, Trump lost, and there’s no evidence ballots were “dumped” or the election “rigged.” If people don’t trust voting again, it’s largely because of Trump.

There also are local instances where election losers are trying to nullify results. They’re both ridiculous.

In Newton Falls’ 3rd Ward race, Tesa Spletzer beat incumbent Lyle Waddell 2 to 1.

Rather than accept defeat, Waddell, who was appointed to the seat and then resigned as mayor in October 2019, sued claiming the election should never have happened.

The Trumbull County Board of Elections initially ruled in October 2019 the election for an unexpired council term should take place in 2021. But a month later, village Law Director Joseph Fritz interpreted the village charter and insisted the election move to 2020.

Waddell never objected to the change.

After decisively losing, Waddell filed a lawsuit, and Fritz, who has made several decisions based on his interpretation of the charter, chose to hold off on seating Spletzer, which should have been done immediately after the board of elections certified the results Nov. 18.

Common Pleas Court Judge Andrew Logan put an end to the nonsense Monday.

Logan ruled Spletzer is the winner and should hold the seat until the legal issue is resolved. Waddell wanted a delay because he hadn’t hired an attorney and now wanted more time to do so.

Of note, this seat is up for grabs in 2021.

The other case involves the Trumbull County commissioner seat won by Republican Niki Frenchko last month. She beat incumbent Dan Polivka (also county Democratic Party chairman) by 4.66 percent.

After losing, Polivka and 66 voters claimed “election irregularities” over Frenchko’s residency.

Frenchko has claimed two residencies: in both Mentor and Warren. A Franklin County Common Pleas Court judge and the Trumbull County Board of Elections already ruled in favor of Frenchko’s eligibility to run for Trumbull commissioner.

Frenchko’s attorney said the proper time to question his client’s residency was 74 days before the primary and the latest lawsuit isn’t timely.

Polivka lost and now is crying foul.

There’s a Wednesday hearing before Visiting Judge John Haas, in which Polivka is seeking to stop Frenchko from taking office, and either allow him to continue to serve as commissioner or order a new election.

It’s simple: Polivka lost, and it’s time to move on.

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