Sam Ronan Tried to Lead Democrats. Now He Wants Republicans to Trust Him.
A bizarre history of party shifts and inflammatory rhetoric from the latest Ohio congressional candidate raises serious questions for GOP voters.
Sam Ronan wants Republican voters to believe his candidacy against Rep. Mike Carey makes sense.
On paper, he filed to run as a Republican. In practice, his political history tells a far more complicated story.
Ronan first entered politics as a Democrat. In 2016, he ran for the Ohio House of Representatives in Warren County, one of the state’s most reliably Republican areas. He supported single-payer healthcare and government-driven economic reform. He lost. Badly.
Instead of recalibrating quietly in the background, he quickly escalated. In 2017, he ran for chair of the Democratic National Committee. He made the argument that Democrats had abandoned rural communities and working-class voters. He pitched what he called a ‘3,760 county strategy’ and positioned himself as an insurgent willing to challenge the party elites.
He dropped out before the vote, but his affiliation was clear. He was not just a Democrat. He aligned so closely with the Democratic Party that he hoped to lead it.
A year later, he filed to run for Congress against Republican Steve Chabot (OH-1). But he didn’t file as a Democrat. He filed to run in the Republican primary.
That shift alone should warrant scrutiny. During the primary, he was openly embraced by groups like The Young Turks, a progressive news and commentary network.
He lost that primary handily, and shortly thereafter, he had a run-in with the law.
Samuel Ronan, 28, was arrested at about 2:30 a.m. on Saturday outside of his home on Creekside Drive. Ronan is charged with failure to comply with the order or signal of a police officer, obstructing official business and obstructing justice and is being held at the Warren County Jail, according to police and jail records.
Ronan streamed live video of his arrest to his personal Facebook page. The video begins with Ronan approaching a police vehicle and speaking to an officer, who orders him to the ground. In the video, Ronan claims the officer has no right to arrest him, while the officer repeats himself several times, ordering Ronan to the ground. Eventually, another officer helps arrest Ronan.
He was charged with obstruction of justice and resisting arrest. The video circulated. The episode became part of his public record.
Yet, his pattern did not stop there. He remained involved in online politics, hosting a progressive livestream three times a week, and recently announced a campaign for Congress against Rep. Mike Carey in the 15th District, yet again as a Republican.
At a recent endorsement meeting held by the Madison County GOP, Ronan was asked directly whether he was the same Sam Ronan who ran for DNC chair.
“The short answer is yes.”
He explained that he ran as a Democrat after leaving active duty because he wanted to serve, and the seat was open. He said he lost “egregiously” and concluded that Democratic leadership did not care about candidates or constituents.
He then stated that dissatisfaction with Democrats is “precisely why” he is a Republican today. That explanation sounds like frustration, but his own Facebook comments go further.
Ronan is arguing that party labels are tools, not identities. If Republicans dominate a district, you run as a Republican. If Democrats want influence in red territory, they should compete inside Republican primaries. In his view, that is not opportunism. It is consistent with what he said during his DNC campaign.
But wait, there is more.
At the same meeting, he was confronted about prior statements comparing Donald Trump to Nazi Germany and accusing Republicans of hatred toward Americans.
He criticized immigration enforcement and alleged serious misconduct by federal agencies, and described himself as “more of an Eisenhower Republican.”
He cited high marginal tax rates and President Eisenhower’s federal infrastructure expansion as guiding principles.
That ideological framing stands in tension with the modern Republican platform. His campaign website reflects the same tension. He has advocated for expansive federal job programs, sweeping economic intervention, and strong opposition to increased ICE funding. His own Facebook post calls Democrats “traitorous” for supporting additional ICE funding, a position that places him at odds with many Republican primary voters.
He is anti-Trump, the self-defined ‘President of ANTIFA’, calls members of ICE murderers, and would never vote in line with the Republican caucus. In any state with serious, closed primaries, Ronan wouldn’t even be able to vote in the GOP primary. Yet, he is running in it.
Ronan’s record now includes:
A Democratic statehouse campaign.
A run for DNC chair.
A Republican congressional primary challenge.
An arrest during that campaign.
Public rhetoric is sharply critical of Trump and federal immigration policy.
A renewed Republican candidacy portrayed as tactical consistency.
He says he is not a grifter. He says he is fighting for the working class within the district’s dominant party. But he is not a member of the dominant party.
Republican voters are left with a decision that is less about biography and more about trust. Does Ronan have any ideological evolution? Or is he only a candidate who views party affiliation as something to use when it is convenient?
And the real question: will Ohio’s open primary system allow Republican voters actually to select our nominee? Or will crossover Democrats change the results?
His record is public. His social media comments are public. His non-compliance arrest is public. His thoughts on Republican candidates and voters are public.
Voters on May 5th will decide whether his story holds together.