By Joe Vardon

The Columbus Dispatch Wednesday January 8, 2014 6:00 AM

Gov. John Kasich might have escaped a primary challenge from the right, but a federal judges ruling yesterday made it more likely that the Republican governor could face conservative competition come November.

U.S. District Court Judge Michael H. Watson in Columbus granted a preliminary injunction against GOP-passed legislation that would have made it more difficult for minor-party candidates to reach the ballot. The ruling allows Libertarian gubernatorial candidate Charlie Earl to be in the November race when Kasich seeks re-election.

Senate Bill 193, passed two months ago by Republican legislators and signed hours later by Kasich, would have blocked all minor parties from having a primary on May 5 and significantly raised the number of signatures needed for a minor-party candidate such as Earl to reach the ballot.

The law was dubbed by critics as the John Kasich Re-Election Protection Act, based on perceptions that he had angered conservatives over policies such as Medicaid expansion and that some conservatives would drift toward Earl come Nov. 4.

Kasich won election in 2010 by 2 percentage points (roughly 77,000 votes), and likely Democratic nominee Ed FitzGerald works in Democrat-rich Cleveland, so a siphoning of votes in either direction could make a difference.

Because the law would have gone into effect on Feb. 5 the filing deadline for all primary candidates Watson ruled that it would violate minor-party candidates constitutional rights, and he stopped its immediate implementation.

Earl said of its passage: It was intentional, and it was ludicrous, and the court saw through it.

In his decision issued yesterday, Watson wrote that the Ohio legislature moved the proverbial goal post in the midst of the game.

Go here to see the original:

Ruling opens path for Libertarian challenger to Kasich