COLUMBUS (Tusco TV) - Sugarcreek's incumbent mayor is taking his fight for a third term to the Ohio Supreme Court. 

Clayton Weller is challenging a recent appeals court ruling upholding the Tuscarawas County elections board's decision to not certify him as a mayoral candidate in the upcoming election. Elections board Attorney Bob Stephenson says the high court has agreed to review the case on an expedited basis due to its time-sensitive nature. 

"Naturally, given the timeline of the election, all this stuff has to be decided very, very promptly so there’s no oral argument like there would be in a typical appeal, and the whole briefing schedule is incredibly compressed," he says. 

The Fifth District Court of Appeals ruled last week that the board was legally justified in rejecting Weller’s candidacy due to him not filling out the nominating section of the petition. Stephenson says he can’t predict whether the high court’s review will result in a different outcome.

"You never know. I’ve been doing this too long, and I don’t make predictions so let the process work and let the courts decide," he says. 

Stephenson says the court will have all the information it needs to begin reviewing the case after Friday. 

TUSCO TV