The Ashland County Fair Board has formally apologized to the Ashland County Democratic Committee and settled its portion of a federal lawsuit over the removal of the party's booth from last year's fair, acknowledging the display was constitutionally protected political speech that never should have been shut down. The resolution comes just two days before the 175th annual Ashland County Fair opens on September 20.
According to Cleveland 19 News, the Ashland County Agricultural Society — commonly known as the fair board — and the Ashland County Sheriff's Office settled claims brought by the Democratic committee over its September 2025 removal from the fairgrounds. The fair board acknowledged the committee did not engage in improper conduct and agreed the booth should not have been removed simply because others objected to its message. As part of the deal, the board agreed to revise its exhibitor standards to protect political expression from viewpoint discrimination, provide First Amendment training to board members and staff, and confirm the Democratic committee's eligibility to return to future fairs. Financial terms of the settlement were not disclosed.
But the resolution is narrower than it first appeared. As reported by Richland Source, federal civil rights claims against Ashland County Sheriff Kurt Schneider remain pending in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio even though the fair board's exposure has been resolved. DannLaw, the Cleveland-based firm representing the Democratic committee, had to issue a corrected press release within two hours of its original statement after mistakenly reporting that Schneider had also settled.
How the Booth Removal Unfolded Last September
The dispute traces back to September 18, 2025, when the fair board received complaints about political buttons and materials at the Democratic committee's booth, which included items critical of President Donald Trump. Volunteers initially stowed two objectionable buttons after the complaints — one reading “Fascism 8647: One day we will wake up to his obituary” and another reading “Felon: is he dead yet?” — according to the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE). Fair officials and deputies returned after continued complaints and ordered the entire booth removed, with the Ashland County Sheriff's Office escorting the booth off the fairgrounds after warnings.
Sheriff Kurt Schneider said at the time that the buttons contained statements inappropriate for the fair, and his office launched a criminal investigation into them while also contacting the U.S. Secret Service about concerns the buttons raised. Fair officials said the removal was intended to maintain a family-friendly atmosphere. Fair Board President Martin Wesner, who has served on the board since 2005, initially defended the decision to local media, arguing that while free speech exists, a family-focused county fair was not the proper setting for what he characterized as offensive political rhetoric, per Fox 8 / Ashland County Pictures.
FIRE Warned the Vague Rule Invited Viewpoint Discrimination
FIRE sent warning letters to the sheriff and fair board shortly after the incident and later criticized local officials, arguing the fair's unwritten family-friendly rule was unconstitutionally vague and had resulted in viewpoint discrimination. The Ashland County Democratic Party had no comment on the removal at the time of the original 2025 report. The controversy also had a ripple effect within local politics: longtime committee member Andrew Kinney resigned, citing the fair fight as his “last straw,” as political tensions in the county escalated, according to a report from Richland Source at the time.
Former Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann and attorney Jeffrey Crossman of DannLaw filed the federal lawsuit on October 16, 2025, naming the fair board, Wesner, Schneider, individual board members, and deputies as defendants. The complaint, detailed by WKYC, sought judicial declarations of First and Fourteenth Amendment violations alongside damages. In court filings responding to the suit, the Ashland County Sheriff's Office denied all allegations of civil rights violations and invoked qualified immunity, a legal doctrine that shields public officials from civil liability unless they violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights.
Democratic Chair Welcomes Apology, Sheriff's Case Continues
Heather Sample, chair of the Ashland County Democratic Committee, said she did not believe the fair board acted with malicious intent in the prior-year expulsion. She said she appreciated the board's apology and its commitment to protecting exhibitors' First Amendment rights and safety, adding that the settlement restored the public record and affirmed Ashland County Democrats' right to peaceful political expression. Both the fair board and the Democratic committee agreed the fair belongs to the entire community and said they want people with different political beliefs to be able to participate and express themselves fairly and safely.
The settlement lands in one of Ohio's most reliably conservative counties, where Republican candidates have routinely won presidential and local contests by wide margins — Donald Trump carried Ashland County with more than 70% of the vote in recent elections, according to Ballotpedia. Even so, with the sheriff's qualified-immunity defense still unresolved in federal court, the legal fight over what political speech is allowed at the Ashland County Fair isn't entirely over — even as the fairgrounds prepare to welcome thousands of visitors for this year's agricultural exhibits and youth events.
