UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT

┐ C. SUE SCHWAMBERGER, │ Plaintiff-Appellant, │ │ v. > No. 20-3575 │ │ MARION COUNTY BOARD OF ELECTIONS; F. JOHN │ MEYER, individually and in his official capacity as │ former Director of the Marion County Board of │ Elections, │ Defendants-Appellees. │ ┘

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio at Toledo. No. 3:19-cv-02626—Jack Zouhary, District Judge.

Argued: January 12, 2021

Decided and Filed: February 17, 2021

Before: CLAY, GILMAN, and THAPAR, Circuit Judges.

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COUNSEL ARGUED: J.C. Ratliff, Marion, Ohio, for Appellant. Jeffrey A. Stankunas, ISAAC WILES BURKHOLDER & TEETOR, LLC, Columbus, Ohio, for Appellee Marion County Board of Elections. Susan S.R. Petro, WILLIAMS & SCHOENBERGER CO., L.L.C., Columbus, Ohio, for Appellee F. John Meyer. ON BRIEF: J.C. Ratliff, Marion, Ohio, for Appellant. Jeffrey A. Stankunas, Matthew R. Aumann, ISAAC WILES BURKHOLDER & TEETOR, LLC, Columbus, Ohio, for Appellee Marion County Board of Elections. Susan S.R. Petro, Richard A. Williams, WILLIAMS & SCHOENBERGER CO., L.L.C., Columbus, Ohio, for Appellee F. John Meyer. No. 20-3575 Schwamberger v. Marion Cnty. Bd. of Elections et al. Page 2

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OPINION _________________

RONALD LEE GILMAN, Circuit Judge. C. Sue Schwamberger, a former deputy director of the Marion County Board of Elections (the Board), brought suit against the Board and its former director, F. John Meyer. She asserted 12 causes of action in connection with her termination, only 3 of which involve federal constitutional claims. These three claims, brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, allege that the defendants’ actions constituted (1) First Amendment retaliation, (2) a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause, and (3) a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause.

The defendants moved to dismiss Schwamberger’s complaint. After dismissing the federal causes of action, the district court declined to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the state-law claims. For the reasons set forth below, we AFFIRM the judgment of the district court.

I. BACKGROUND A. Factual background

1. Ohio’s county boards of elections

Schwamberger’s former employer is the election authority for Marion County, established under Ohio Revised Code (R.C.) § 3501.06. In setting up county boards of elections, R.C. § 3501.06(A) stipulates that “[t]here shall be in each county of the state a board of elections consisting of four qualified electors of the county, who shall be appointed by the secretary of state,” and who shall serve as the secretary’s representatives. R.C. § 3501.06(B) provides that each county board’s partisan makeup must be balanced, evenly split between “board members . . . from the political party which cast the highest number of votes for th