OHIO SUPREME COURT Justices' races lack the viciousness of 2000 campaigns

Voters will fill three slots on the state's top court Tuesday.
By JEFF ORTEGA
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
COLUMBUS -- In 2000, third-party, issue-advocacy groups aired controversial television ads in efforts to unseat Democratic Justice Alice Robie Resnick and re-elect Republican Deborah L. Cook, then a justice.
The attacks on Justice Resnick by a pro-business group aligned with the Ohio Chamber of Commerce didn't work: She was handily re-elected, as was Cook.
This time, the negative ads don't appear as prevalent in the state Supreme Court elections, something Chief Justice Thomas J. Moyer says could be a result of the backlash against the so-called issue ads that aired in 2000.
"This time the campaign has been much more about judicial philosophy and the candidates themselves," Chief Justice Moyer said Wednesday. The suburban Columbus Republican is among those running for four of the high court's seven seats up for grabs Tuesday.
"This time, I don't know of any negative third-party ads that have been published," Chief Justice Moyer said in a telephone interview.
"One worries about the last weekend because at times that's when we see the worst," the chief justice said.
Anti-Resnick ad
Probably the best remembered ad from the 2000 campaign involved the Ohio chamber's issue-advocacy group, Citizens for a Strong Ohio, which received at least $4 million in an effort to defeat Justice Resnick and re-elect then-Justice Cook.
The controversial ad involving Justice Resnick -- which was widely condemned -- featured a blindfolded "Lady Justice" figure with a handful of cash.
Justice Resnick was returned by voters for a six-year term then, as was Cook. Cook has since been appointed to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
In another race for the Ohio Supreme Court, Republican Justice Terrence O'Donnell of suburban Cleveland, who was appointed to replace Cook, is vying against Democrat William O'Neill of northeast Ohio for the remaining two years of Cook's term.
Judge O'Neill is on the Warren-based 11th District Court of Appeals.
Replacing Justice Sweeney
In the race for the seat being vacated by Democratic Justice Francis E. Sweeney, who is stepping down from the high court because of age limits, Judge Judith Ann Lanzinger of the Toledo-based 6th District Court of Appeals, a Republican, is vying against Democratic candidate Judge Nancy A. Fuerst, who is on the Cuyahoga County common pleas bench.
Republican Justice Paul E. Pfeifer of Bucyrus, who is seeking a third term, is running unopposed.
Chief Justice Moyer, who has been Ohio's chief justice since 1987, said he is traveling around the state telling voters about the endorsements he's received from many newspapers.
Justice Moyer said he's also telling voters of the high ratings he's received from groups including the Ohio State Bar Association and the Cleveland Bar Association.
C. Ellen Connally, Moyer's Democratic challenger, says she will be just as busy.
Connally, a retired Cleveland municipal court judge who says she believes "it's time for a change," will be in Columbus today at events and in Akron on Friday to attend a National Association for the Advancement of Colored People dinner.
Republicans hold a 5-2 advantage on the high court.