COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — While state and local school board races in Ohio are currently nonpartisan, some Statehouse lawmakers say those candidates should be required to be affiliated with a political party.

Senate Bill 107, introduced in February by Sen. Andrew Brenner (R-Delaware), would require board of education candidates to go through the primary nomination process to be affiliated with a party. Brenner argues Ohio’s current nonpartisan elections can hide political beliefs from voters, “leading to a mismatch between board members and the communities they are meant to represent.”

“I know that there are people that think it should remain nonpartisan, but if you take a look at all these races, I think all these races in general are partisan because of the people who are running are coming from one political persuasion or another,” said Brenner during the bill’s first hearing on Feb. 26. “I think that adding party labels will help.”

Brenner’s bill, which is co-sponsored by four other Ohio Senate Republicans, would require state board candidates to attain 50 signatures to enter their party’s primary, a decrease from the current requirement of 100 signatures.

The number of signatures required for a local board candidate would depend on the district’s population. A district with a population of less than 20,000 would require 20 signatures, while a population of more than 20,000 would require 50. If passed by the Statehouse and signed into law, S.B. 107’s changes would apply 120 days after the measure takes effect.

A proposal similar to Brenner’s was also introduced last General Assembly and would’ve required party labels for state board candidates and restructured the board from 19 nonpartisan members — 11 elected, eight appointed by the governor — to a 15-member board entirely elected. The measure only received one committee hearing.

Along with board of education candidates, Ohio law also mandates nonpartisan elections for municipal, county and common pleas court judges. However, a bill signed into law by Gov. Mike DeWine in 2021 required party labels be included for Ohio’s appellate and Supreme Court candidates. Since then, Republicans have swept the state’s Supreme Court races.

S.B. 107 has been assigned to the Senate General Government Committee, where it could receive additional hearings open for public testimony.