A Republican Party official’s efforts to keep Republican St. Joseph County Council member Dan Schaetzle off the May primary election ballot made their way into court Monday.
Attorneys for the party official, the county Election Board and Schaetzle made oral arguments in a 90-minute hearing before Democratic St. Joseph Circuit Judge John Broden. The party official is Griffin Nate, communications director for Republican Congressman Rudy Yakym.
Nate’s attorney, Sean Sirisi, has said he’ll appeal in court the Election Board’s 3-0 vote Wednesday to let Schaetzle run for re-election as a Republican, despite the district and state GOP committees last year finding he’s not in good standing with the party through the end of next year. That sanction resulted from Schaetzle endorsing Democratic Probate Judge candidate Jason Czichowicz in the 2024 election.
But before getting to the heart of the matter, Sirisi on Friday filed a motion asking Broden for a change of venue, moving the case to an Elkhart County court. Sirisi said Republican County Clerk Amy Rolfes and her staff are biased against their case, and that the Election Board is a county entity, so the case should be moved out of county to be fair.
But Schaetzle’s attorney, Pete Agostino, and the Election Board’s attorney, Michael Smyth, argued that the case should remain before Broden. They said the Election Board, while local, was created by state law to administer elections, not county government.
Broden pledged to issue a ruling as soon as he can, since early voting starts April 7.
