FREMONT, Ohio — Sandusky County Judge Brad Smith, a Republican, accepted campaign contributions through what public records show is a personal Venmo account, an arrangement that appears to conflict with Ohio campaign finance law requiring that all campaign funds be held in accounts separate from a candidate’s personal finances.
Smith’s Venmo account, operating under the handle @BuckeyeBradSmith, is publicly visible and shows multiple transactions in which senders explicitly identified their payments as campaign contributions. On April 8, 2026, Charles Yamarone sent a payment to the account with the memo “Campaign contribution: BS4Judge.” The same day, Adam Greenslade sent a payment with the memo “B Smitty for Judge.” A third payment from Stacey Gibson, dated March 25, is also visible on the account’s public feed.
The same account shows transactions unrelated to Smith’s campaign, including a December 2024 payment from Adam Smith described as discounted Ohio State football tickets as a birthday gift, along with multiple payments in September 2024 for kart racing and street racing entry fees — including a $40 entry labeled “Clyde GP Vintage Entry Fee” — indicating the account is used for personal financial activity.
Under Ohio Revised Code §3517.10(D)(3)(a), campaign committees are required to deposit all monetary contributions “into an account separate from a personal or business account of the candidate or campaign committee.” The Ohio Elections Commission addressed peer-to-peer payment platforms including Venmo directly in Advisory Opinion 2021ELC-04, issued December 16, 2021, concluding that such platforms are permissible under Ohio campaign finance law only when the account is established specifically for the campaign committee and is maintained separately from any personal account of a beneficiary of the campaign fund.
TiffinOhio.net submitted written questions to Smith on April 30, 2026, asking whether @BuckeyeBradSmith is a personal or campaign-dedicated account, whether campaign contributions received through it have been transferred to a separate campaign account, and whether Smith’s campaign committee has a designated campaign Venmo on file with the Ohio Secretary of State. Smith did not respond by deadline.
Smith serves as judge of the Sandusky County Court of Common Pleas, Probate and Juvenile Division, a position he has held since 2009. He is the subject of prior TiffinOhio.net reporting regarding a $33,300 state audit finding that was formally abated by Sandusky County Prosecutor Beth Tischler with no repayment required.
