COMMON PLEAS Kobly to run for vacancy

The judge received 81.6 percent of the vote.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Judge Elizabeth Kobly of Youngstown Municipal Court easily captured the Democratic nomination to run in November for the Mahoning County Common Pleas Court seat recently vacated by retired Judge Robert Lisotto.
She got the nomination from the party's precinct committee members Wednesday. She defeated Tim Franken, the chief assistant prosecutor of the county prosecutor's criminal division and a longtime close friend, by a vote of 124 to 28.
Franken, who lost to Judge Lisotto in the 2002 Democratic primary, spent most of his pre-election speech talking about the similarities between himself and Judge Kobly. The only difference he mentioned was that his opponent is a sitting judge, and if she is elected, Gov. Bob Taft, a Republican, will fill her vacancy.
"We have to stop having the Republican governor appoint our judges," Franken said.
Judge Kobly's rebuttal was simple: Taft appointed her in 2000 to fill a vacancy on the Youngstown Municipal Court bench.
Will face Republican
Judge Kobly will face off against a sitting Republican judge in the November general election. Taft will appoint a temporary replacement for Judge Lisotto, and local Republican officials say that person will be the party's candidate in November.
The Mahoning Republican Party plans to recommend three candidates to Taft sometime next week. Among those expressing interest in the seat are Maureen Sweeney, Ted Roberts, Elaine Greaves and Leonard Hall.
Judge Kobly said her selection probably means the Republicans will counter with a female candidate, most likely Sweeney, who lost the 2002 Mahoning Probate Court race to Judge Timothy Maloney, a Democrat.
The judge had a few words of warning to any Republican who will run in November: "If I was a lawyer and I had to close my practice up for three months, I'd think twice about taking the appointment."
Taft is expected to appoint a successor to Judge Lisotto, who retired last week, before the middle of next month. Mahoning Republican precinct committee members have until Aug. 18 to choose their candidate for the November election.
Before Democratic precinct committee members voted, John Shultz, a Boardman attorney, asked his fellow committee members to delay the vote by at least two weeks. Shultz said there was no reason to rush the vote, and that a delay would open the seat to other candidates.
A vote to delay was soundly rejected by committee members.
There are 286 Democratic precinct committee members eligible to vote for the nomination. Of those, 153 attended Wednesday's meeting at the Maronite Center. One member didn't fill out the ballot correctly and that vote was disqualified.
skolnick@vindy.com