McKimm v. Ohio Elections Commission

In 1995, Dan McKimm (defendant) ran for trustee of Jackson Township against incumbent Randy Gonzalez. McKimm won the election. During the campaign, McKimm distributed a brochure that consisted of multiple-choice quiz questions and illustrations to help citizens choose the best candidate. Gonzalez filed a complaint with the Ohio Elections Commission (the commission) (plaintiff), alleging that McKimm violated Ohio’s election laws by disseminating the brochure, which included several statements and illustrations that McKimm allegedly knew to be false or that McKimm distributed with reckless disregard for whether the statements were false for the purpose of defeating Gonzalez. The commission did not refer the matter to a prosecutor but did reprimand McKimm for violating Ohio election law. McKimm appealed the reprimand to the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas. The trial court affirmed the commission’s order only as to an illustration that depicted a hand with money under a table, determining that the constitutional guarantee of free speech protected the text of the brochure but not the illustration. McKimm appealed to the Franklin County Court of Appeals, which reversed the trial court’s decision, concluding there was no evidence that McKimm published the illustration with the knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard for its falsity. The commission appealed.