HUBBARD — Julie Lengyel, who won an eligibility challenge as a candidate for Hubbard City Council president, is no longer in the race.

Lengyel withdrew as a candidate for the position.

In a letter to the Trumbull County Board of Elections, Lengyel wrote: “I have decided that I would like to pull my name from the ballot running for president of council for the city of Hubbard. I have (too) many personal things going on right now.”

Asked Monday to elaborate, Lengyel, who was running as an independent, said she quit the race for “personal reasons.”

With Lengyel out of the race, the only candidate on the ballot for Hubbard council president is Democrat Michael Mogg, the current 3rd Ward councilman.

Early voting starts today. The election is Nov. 4.

Lengyel’s eligibility was challenged by Hubbard Councilwoman Bonnie Viele, D-1st Ward. The elections board ruled 4-0 on June 24 that Lengyel was eligible.

Viele’s objection was whether Lengyel, who moved into a Doris Drive home less than a year ago, was a city resident long enough to be eligible.

Viele contended that Lengyel needed to live in the city for at least a year before the election to be eligible based on Ohio Revised Code 731.02.

But Hubbard Law Director Mark Villano and the Trumbull County Prosecutor’s Office determined that particular state law applies to candidates running for ward and at-large council positions and not for those seeking to be council president. The board agreed.

Villano wrote: “One can conclude that the members of the legislative authority and the president of the legislative authority are viewed differently under Ohio law based on their respective roles. The council legislates and votes on matters pertaining to city business” while “the president of council’s primary function is to preside over and direct the council meetings and does not have a vote on legislation except in the instance of a tie nor can the president request legislation.”

Jason Toth, an assistant county prosecutor who attended the June 24 hearing, said it was his position that ORC 731.02 didn’t apply to council president candidates.

“There’s also a separate statute that pertains to president of council” and “in that statute, there is no one-year residency requirement. She just has to be a resident of Hubbard,” he said.

Viele had contended that as a legislator, those running for council president must live in the city for a year.

But Lengyel said she relied on the Ohio candidates requirement guide from the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office, which states ORC 3.15 — the residency requirements for public officials — applies. That law only requires “each person holding an elective office of a political subdivision (to) be a resident of that political subdivision” with no time requirement.

“It’s more of an executive position instead of a legislative position,” Lengyel said during the hearing. “So that is my biggest argument with the case.”

Lengyel said she moved Nov. 24 into her home in the city and the property sale closed Jan. 2.

After the board vote, Lengyel said she was “very happy with the decision. I want to be able to run and support the community.”