13 submit names to Kasich for Supreme Court judgeship

By MARC KOVAC

news@vindy.com

COLUMBUS

Thirteen people have submitted their names to Gov. John Kasich to be considered for a soon-to-be-vacant seat on the Ohio Supreme Court.

Most are sitting judges in courtrooms across the state, and more than half come from southwestern Ohio.

All hope to replace retiring Justice Evelyn Lundberg Stratton, who plans to leave the bench by year’s end.

Kasich will appoint a replacement and asked interested applicants to submit their names by the end of last week for consideration.

Those who did so included:

Judge Craig R. Baldwin, Licking County Common Pleas Court, from Newark.

Judge Joyce A. Campbell, Fairfield Municipal Court, from Fairfield.

Thomas W. Coffey, senior counsel at the firm of Tucker Ellis & West, from Cleveland.

Douglas R. Cole, a founding partner in the Columbus firm of Organ Cole & Stock, from Columbus.

Judge Pat DeWine, Hamilton County Common Pleas Court who was elected this month to the First District Court of Appeals, from Cincinnati.

Judge Mary E. Donovan, Second District Court of Appeals, from Dayton. Judge Patrick Francis Fischer, First District Court of Appeals, from Cincinnati.

Judge Judith L. French, 10th District Court of Appeals, from Columbus.

Judge Victor Haddad, Clermont County Common Pleas Court, from Batavia.

Judge Matthew W. McFarland, Fourth District Court of Appeals, from Portsmouth.

Charles M. Miller, a partner in the firm of Keating Muething Klekamp, from Cincinnati.

Judge Robert Paul Ringland, 12th District Court of Appeals, from Middletown.

James William Satola, attorney in private practice, from University Heights.

One name that is not on the list is outgoing Ohio Supreme Court Justice Robert Cupp, who lost his re-election bid this month to former appeals court Judge Bill O’Neill.

Cupp announced last week that he would not submit his name for consideration.

Kasich’s spokesman Rob Nichols said the governor hoped to announce Stratton’s successor before the end of the year.