He's not within 80 days, so they can't just appoint Padgett.
But, I'll bet they're passing word that they'll not support anyone but her.
There's a legal issue on her candidacy because of an Ohio law prohibiting being on the ballot if one has already lost a primary election. Not for this seat, but she was Petro's running mate for LtGov and they lost.
I'd think that applied to the same office, but who knows in Ohio.
I know that they couldn't just appoint Padgett, my question is if we know who is running against her in the primary.
As for the "sore loser" law issue, I think it's pretty clear that it doesn't apply to (i) a race for another contest or (ii) a special primary, since it was meant to prohibit someone from running as an independent or by petition (write-in) for a certain position after having lost the primary.