In 2020 Mike Wright told us to vote for Brannon.
In 2026, he was going to run against Brannon.
He thought David Brannon was such a good choice Wright did a TV ad for Brannon in 2020.
Michael Wright jumped into the race, then bailed out almost immediately, after Rice accused him of doing exactly what it looked like he was doing: helping his friend David Brannon by muddying the Democratic primary. Wright’s own history of publicly backing Brannon made the whole thing look less like a campaign and more like a political favor.
Mar 9, 2026 Dayton Daily News
This is the story that made the whole thing stink even more. Video showed Wright leaving the Board of Elections with Judge Brannon and Brannon’s bailiff right after filing to run against Rice. They denied coordination, but normal candidates do not file against an incumbent judge and then walk out with that same judge like they are heading to lunch.
Mar 16, 2026 Dayton Daily News (See video above)
Wright’s defense was that he ran because Rice supposedly lied to him, not to help Brannon. But that explanation falls apart fast: he admitted he had supported Brannon before and likely would support him again. So if he was always in Brannon’s corner, filing petitions against Rice just made the whole stunt look even more cynical and ridiculous.
Mar 26, 2026 Dayton Daily News
Brannon’s court allowed a mentally ill veteran, while on a psych ward and under emergency detention, to undo his powers of attorney, then embraced a demand for guardianship pushed by a VA doctor even though guardianship is not the VA’s normal tool for handling an incompetent beneficiary. Rather than question that contradiction or protect the veteran from a broken process, Brannon accepted it, removed the person actually keeping the veteran functioning, and cleared the way for the neglect and chaos that came next.
Read the whole story here