U.S. Rep. Dave Joyce, seeking his seventh two-year term in Congress, is being challenged by an atypical candidate: Democrat Brian Bob Kenderes, who was sentenced to 30 days in jail for a felony conviction of filing a false voter registration.

The election is Nov. 5. Early voting starts Oct. 8.

Joyce, R-Bainbridge, was elected to Congress in 2012 after 24 years as Geauga County prosecutor.

The 14th Congressional District includes all of Trumbull, Ashtabula, Lake and Geauga counties and all but two communities in Portage County.

Trumbull County is the district’s second most-populous county behind Lake County.

The district has a 10% Republican advantage based on votes in partisan statewide elections in the past decade. But Joyce far exceeded that amount in 2022 when he beat Democrat Matt Kilboy by 23.5%.

Joyce, who hasn’t commented on Kenderes, said: “I am running for reelection based on my record of delivering results for the 14th Congressional District and northeast Ohio. Over the past few years, my top priorities have been strengthening our regional economy, protecting and preserving the Great Lakes for future generations and combating the opioid crisis that continues to ravage communities in Ohio. I’m proud to report that we have made significant progress on each of these items.”

Joyce added, “I work every day on behalf of my constituents to deliver results for our community that help families achieve the American Dream. It is my fundamental belief that the best of America is yet to come.”

Joyce said he’s been “a constant voice to cut unnecessary spending, grow our economy and support American jobs.”

Joyce said he’s sponsored and supported numerous bills to “help unleash our economic potential by focusing on issues like lowering taxes, boosting energy production, helping small businesses and improving cybersecurity resources.”

Joyce said he’s led “the effort to restore Lake Erie,” such as sponsoring the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, which provides millions of dollars in federal funding to help the Great Lakes.

Joyce said he knows how much Lake Erie “means to our community from both a recreational and economic perspective.”

Regarding the opioid crisis, Joyce said he’s helped pass many bills directed at prevention and education, treatment and providing law enforcement and first responders with resources.

Joyce introduced the Stop Pills That Kill Act to target counterfeit pills laced with fentanyl, methamphetamine and related substances.

“As I work to secure our southern border and stop the record-breaking flow of fentanyl coming into our country, I will continue to find ways we can provide more addiction prevention and treatment resources as well as prevention education for those most at-risk in our community,” Joyce said.

Joyce received 77% of the vote in the March 19 Republican primary, beating two challengers.

Kenderes ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination.

Joyce had $2.6 million in his campaign fund as of June 30, the most recent filing date.

Meanwhile, Kenderes hasn’t filed a finance report.

Repeated messages left for Kenderes by this newspaper have gone unanswered.

The only sign Kenderes may campaign for the congressional seat is he received

permission Aug. 28 from Lake County Common Pleas Court Judge Patrick Condon, who sentenced Kenderes on July 25 to 30 days in the county jail, to travel to the 14th District for campaign purposes.

Kenderes is to report to jail Nov. 9, four days after the general election, to begin his sentence.

Kenderes declined to withdraw as the Democratic Party’s candidate even after his conviction for the fifth-degree felony of filing a false voter registration.

Trumbull County Democratic Chairman Mark Alberini has called for Kenderes to step down as the party’s candidate.

There is nothing prohibiting a felon from running for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The Lake County Sheriff’s Office accused Kenderes of living in Strongsville, but filing his voter registration and nominating petitions with the Lake County Board of Elections stating he lives in Mentor.

A criminal charge was filed March 22.

Mentor is in Lake County, while Strongsville is in Cuyahoga County, which isn’t in the district.

However, a congressional candidate only needs to live in Ohio and not in the district to seek that office.

Kenderes filed three nominating petitions, also called candidate declarations, with signatures to get on the ballot with the Lake County board dated Dec. 15, 16 and 19 stating he lives on Doral Drive in Mentor, as well as a voter registration form on Dec. 15 with the board with that same Mentor address.

After the elections board sent a letter to Kenderes at the Mentor address acknowledging his registration, his brother and sister-in-law, who live there, informed the board Kenderes does not reside there and never has, according to the sheriff’s office complaint.

The couple, Joseph and Jill Kenderes, said the candidate has lived on Prospect Road in Strongsville since 2017.

The board forwarded the information to the county prosecutor’s office, which then sent it to the sheriff’s office for investigation.

Kenderes “refused to speak with detectives regarding the investigation,” the complaint states.

On documents Kenderes signed when the case was initially heard in Painesville Municipal Court, he listed the Strongsville address on a not guilty plea dated April 23 — he wasn’t permitted to plead guilty to a felony in a municipal court — and used a Garfield Heights address on East 97th Street on an April 23 financial disclosure form to show he is indigent. Garfield Heights is in Cuyahoga County.