What a difference little more than two years has made for Madison Township cattle farmer Joe Blystone, former candidate in the Republican primary race for governor. He has gone from fighting to become the state’s grassroots-based governor to believing that only the rich can compete in the political system.

In November 2022, Blystone decided he would no longer run the farm’s onsite restaurant, citing primarily staffing issues. Rather than close the establishment, he opted to lease it to friends who now operate Mexican-influenced 34 Centenario there.

This spring, the non-profit Blystone Agricultural Community —­ a program developed to teach children about farms and agriculture, as well as to provide food to schools — ceased operations after efforts to secure a bingo license to assist with fundraising became unwieldy.

Within the last year, he listed his 83-acre namesake farm with a real estate broker at the asking price of $4.5 million. He said he’s had the farm for sale as far back as 2020, but he chose not to list it publicly because he didn’t want to risk harming the businesses.

Blystone still operates the butcher shop, packing house and events center at the farm after his attempt to unseat incumbent Gov. Mike DeWine proved unsuccessful, but given the opportunity — presumably based largely on the sale of the farm — he and wife Jane would head northwest to the Idaho Panhandle.

When asked what’s there, Blystone responded, “Nothing. It’s mountains, streams, very few people.”

He said he has friends in Idaho who turned him on to the area, and Jane’s on board with the move as long as they visit Florida “every once in a while” for the warm weather and water.

“When the shit really does hit the fan, you don’t really want to be around a bunch of people,” he said, offering commentary on the U.S. economy and the crime plaguing nearby Columbus. “That’s the bad thing about being here (his farm): We’re within walking distance of downtown.”

Blystone finished third in the 2022 primary race, winning 23 of the state’s 88 counties and 21 more than second-place finisher, ex-U.S. congressman Jim Renacci.

A political novice at the time, Blystone admitted to the mistakes that rose to the level of campaign finance violations and ultimately resulted in sanctions against his campaign.

“We had some administrative issues with campaign finance, but they were going to make an example of me, obviously,” he said of the Ohio Elections Commission.

Blystone and his wife, acting as campaign treasurer, admitted to violations that included incomplete contribution statements, failure to keep strict accounts of all contributions, failure to file a complete and accurate statement and accepting a cash contribution in excess of the $100 maximum per contributor/per primary, according to minutes of the OEC Jan. 5 hearing.

Consequently, an estimated $105,000 in campaign funds was ordered transferred to the OEC, while a remaining $75,000 was allocated for disbursal to the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas clerk to be held pending a decision in a civil suit the candidate filed against a former campaign worker, the minutes detailed.

Perhaps the most notable penalty, however, was the commission banning Blystone from seeking any public office for a five-year period.

“That just shows you their mental state of ‘we are scared of this guy running again,’” Blystone said. “Otherwise, why would they put it in there?”

He said he wanted the process to be completed, mostly for his wife’s sake.

“My goal was to just get her out of this mess,” he said of his acceptance of the terms. “It truly wasn’t a matter of what they served up, I just wanted it to be done, but, then they didn’t hold up their end.”

Blystone said the commission believed there was more money in the campaign than actually existed.

“They thought they were going to get right off the bat 100 grand, which they didn’t,” he said. “There was 39 grand.”

Blystone said he left about $30,000 in an account for ongoing legal services, in addition to the amount sent to the Delaware County court.

He said the agreement was vague and the commission’s findings have been inconsistent.

The commission revisited the issue about a month after its initial ruling. In late February, it stated that campaign assets totaling $100,000 — $5,000 less than the amount stated in the initial agreement — were due and acknowledged receipt of $39,681.76 in partial payment, according to meeting minutes.

A majority of commission members voted to require Blystone to transfer the remaining $60,318.24 to OEC by March 10.

Meanwhile, Blystone was waiting for hearings about the manner in which the commission treated him. Those were promised him by Republican lawmakers, he said.

“It’s two, three years later and they still never had hearings.”

As he sees it, Ohio missed out on its single opportunity to elect an outsider — “somebody who doesn’t have a lot of money … who wanted to work for the people, and didn’t have any ulterior motives.”

Asked if he regretted the undertaking, Blystone said, “I do some days. Here, about a month ago the FBI showed up.”

He said as soon as the two agents flashed their FBI credentials to him, he ordered them off the property, promising to call the sheriff’s office were they to return. He surmises that their visit was politically motivated.

“So two weeks went by (and) they showed up at my accountant’s house, wanting any information via text or email between me, Jane and my accountant,” Blystone said, clarifying that the accountant handles his personal and business accounts.

“At first, they asked my accountant for tax returns,” Blystone said, noting that the request seemed ridiculous since “they can get returns from the IRS.”

He said the agents asked his accountant a few questions, but the accountant told the agents that he had nothing to do with the campaign.

Blystone said that, early on, he had asked his accountant about handling campaign accounts. The individual, however, told Blystone that he wasn’t comfortable navigating campaign finance law.

“Anybody that had that skill, provided that service — any of those people, they didn’t want to tie themselves to a grassroots campaign, like me,” he said. “So we were left just trying to navigate it ourselves.

“We made mistakes and I’ve said that, but they’re trying to push a narrative that I stole or used those funds somehow in my personal life which is just lunacy. But again, they have to push the narrative because they want to make sure I never run again.”

Blystone admitted that he had thought of running again after his primary defeat.

“And maybe they thought that that’s where I was at, too,” he continued. “With the pummeling, one after the other, whether it was the OEC or it’s the FBI, the writing on the wall is you have to be a rich person. Just for the fact of everything they throw at you, you’ve got to be able to defend; you’ve got to get your side of the story out, and most media won’t listen to your story.”