An Ohio lawmaker representing large parts of Columbus and Clinton Township is now under the microscope over questions about his residency and irregularities on his campaign committee's finance reports dating back to 2022.
State Rep. Ismail Mohamed, a Democrat who represents District 3, faces a hearing Sept. 14 before the Franklin County Board of Elections on whether Mohamed actually lives in his district or in a home he owns in Delaware County.
Mohamed, an attorney, lists his voting address as an apartment on Overlook Ridge Drive on the city's Northeast Side, according to campaign documents from the Franklin County Board of Elections. District 3 includes parts of Columbus' Northeast, North and East Sides – including much of North Linden, the area
around Easton, and parts of the University District, Short North and Downtown – as well as part of Clinton Township.
Mohamed's home on Heather Ridge Drive in the city of Delaware, purchased in October 2025, is valued at nearly $600,000, according to records from the Delaware County Auditor's Office. The filings also show that Mohamed is receiving a homeowner occupancy credit for that home.
Mohamed is currently seeking reelection on the Nov. 3 ballot, where he is being opposed by Republican Bernadine Kennedy Kent, who won the GOP primary in May with 163 write-in votes. Kent is a former Democrat who represented Ohio House District 25 for two terms from 2017-2020, and defeated Mohamed in 2018 by 658 votes to win reelection to her second term.
Mohamed made history as the first Somali man elected to serve in the Ohio Legislature when he took office in January 2023 after defeating J. Josiah Lanning in the November 2022 general election.
Questions about Mohamed's campaign finance reports
In addition to questions surrounding Mohamed's residency, state elections officials have contacted his campaign committee about multiple issues with its campaign finance reports.
In an Aug. 28 letter, the Ohio Secretary of State's office said Mohamed's 2022 post-primary campaign committee finance report listed only $1,386.63 carried forward from the previous reporting period, even though the preceding report showed an ending balance of more than $14,800. According to the state correspondence sent to Mohamed's campaign's treasurer, those figures should match.
The letter also noted that a $13,500 loan Mohamed made to his campaign in March 2022 was not reported in subsequent filings.
In addition, two political action committees reported making contributions to Mohamed's campaign in 2025 that state officials said were not disclosed in his campaign's finance reports. The Vorys Sater Seymour & Pease LLP Advocate for Effective Public Administration PAC and the Beer & Wine PAC, reported contributing $500 and $350, respectively, in April and May 2025. The PAC belonging to the Vorys Sater law firm with offices in Columbus and elsewhere across the country supports Ohio Democratic candidates and public service initiatives, according to Transparency USA, a website that tracks money in state politics.
The Ohio Secretary of State's letter identified a similar issue involving PAC contributions reported by Mohamed's campaign committee in March 2026. The Vorys Sater Seymour & Pease LLP Advocate for Effective Public Administration and the Ohio Credit Union Legislative Action Committee each reported contributing $500 to Mohamed's campaign, but those contributions were not reflected in the campaign's 2026 pre-May primary finance report
Mohamed, through his legislative aide, declined to comment when contacted by The Dispatch.
GOP challenger alleges $97,000 discrepancy in campaign finance reports
Kent has raised concerns in a letter to the Ohio Secretary of State's office about what she describes as a $97,137.82 discrepancy in Mohamed's campaign finance reports. Kent contends that the funds appear in Mohamed's 2024 post-general election campaign finance report, but what happened to the money cannot be reconciled with later campaign finance filings.
In the letter, Kent expressed concern that if the Secretary of State did not address the discrepancy, it would "lead voters, the public, media and even donors to think he doesn't have approximately $97,000 in missing expenditures."
"I am asking that the [Secretary of State] promptly issue an addendum to the Aug. 28 letter directing Ismail's campaign to also reconcile the approximately $97,000 discrepancy," Kent wrote. "This will ensure the campaign has complete notice of the issue and that voters can rely on an accurate and complete official record."
The Secretary of State responded in an email to Kent that they would review the information.
When The Dispatch contacted the office Sept. 10 for an update on that review, Dan Lushek, a spokesperson for the Secretary of State, said that its campaign finance team was reviewing the allegations made against Mohamed's committee, but could not say if an investigation had been opened.
Reporter Shahid Meighan can be reached at smeighan@dispatch.com, at ShahidMeighan on X, and at shahidthereporter.dispatch.com on Bluesky.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Questions raised over Ohio lawmaker's Columbus residency, campaign finances
