Dem candidate for Congress faces felony charge

Brian Bob Kenderes, the Democratic nominee in the 14th Congressional District who faces a felony count of filing a false voter registration, submitted an affidavit saying he is indigent and cannot afford a lawyer.

Kenderes was arraigned Tuesday in Painesville Municipal Court on the charge. After filing the affidavit, the court approved it and Kenderes will be represented by a Lake County public defender.

He has a preliminary hearing in Painesville scheduled for April 30.

The Lake County Sheriff’s Office charged Kenderes March 22 with the fifth-degree felony alleging he lives in Strongsville, but filed his candidate declarations and his voter registration with the Lake County Board of Elections stating he lives in Mentor.

Kenderes was the only Democrat to file for the congressional district. He is to face U.S. Rep. Dave Joyce, R-Bainbridge, in the Nov. 5 general election. Joyce is running for his seventh two-year term.

Kenderes filed three declarations of candidacy — also called nominating petitions — with signatures to get on the ballot with the Lake County Board of Elections dated Dec. 15, 16 and 19 stating he lives at 8930 Doral Drive in Mentor as well as a voter registration form on Dec. 15 with the board with that same Mentor address, according to a criminal complaint from Detective Matthew A. Byers of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.

The candidate declarations specifically state: “Whoever commits election falsification is guilty of a felony of the fifth degree.”

After the Lake County Board of Elections sent a letter to Kenderes at 8903 Doral Drive acknowledging his registration, his brother and sister-in-law, who live at that address, informed the board that he does not live there and has never lived there, according to Byers’ report.

The couple — Joseph and Jill Kenderes — said Kenderes has lived at 9049 Prospect Road in Strongsville since 2017.

The board forwarded the information to the county prosecutor who then sent it to the sheriff’s office for investigation.

The candidate “refused to speak with detectives regarding the investigation,” Byers wrote.

In a handwritten letter, provided by the sheriff’s office, Jill Kenderes said she opened the letter from the board to her brother-in-law, believing it was for her or her husband and learned about the candidate’s voter registration at their address.

“Brian has never lived at our home, is not currently and does not have my permission or my husband’s to use our address,” she wrote.

Kenderes’ personal LinkedIn profile gives his hometown as Strongsville.

The 14th District includes all of Trumbull, Ashtabula, Lake and Geauga counties and all but two communities in Portage County.

Mentor is in Lake, the district’s most-populous county while Strongsville is in Cuyahoga County.

A congressional candidate only needs to live in Ohio and not in the district to seek that office.

Joyce won the March 19 Republican primary against two other candidates, capturing 76.7% of the vote.

Joyce had $2,466,708 in his campaign fund as of March 31.

Kenderes hasn’t filed any campaign finance reports with the Federal Elections Commission.

Kenderes ran two years ago as a write-in in the 7th Congressional District, receiving 35 votes.

Have an interesting story? Contact David Skolnick by email at dskolnick@vindy.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @dskolnick.