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Republican judge, Democratic lawyer vie for appeals court seat
YOUNGSTOWN
Voters will have a choice Nov. 4 between a Republican candidate with judicial experience and a Democratic candidate without it in the race for a seat on the 7th District Court of Appeals.
The Republican is Judge Carol Robb of Columbiana County Municipal Court, and the Democrat is Atty. Anthony Donofrio, Youngstown deputy law director, who has a diverse background in private and governmental law practice.
They are running for a $132,000-a-year appeals court seat being vacated by Judge Joseph J. Vukovich, who did not seek re-election to a fourth six-year term.
The Youngstown-based, four-judge 7th District Court of Appeals has an eight-county jurisdiction, consisting of Mahoning, Columbiana, Belmont, Carroll, Harrison, Jefferson, Monroe and Noble counties.
Through its written decisions, the court rules on appeals, which allege legal and procedural errors in trial court proceedings.
Judge Robb, who received her law degree in 1983, is running on her combined 13 years of trial court experience as a Columbiana County Municipal Court judge and previously as a common pleas court magistrate in that county.
Among her accomplishments as a judge, she cites her Successful Treatment and Recovery (STAR) mental health court docket and Bridges Out of Poverty program, which are designed to assist defendants struggling with mental illness and poverty.
STAR was the first mental-health court docket certified by the Ohio Supreme Court, and it is now a model for mental health courts throughout Ohio, Judge Robb said.
Because of her innovative programs, Judge Robb said the Ohio Supreme Court chief justice has appointed her to positions on the top court’s Specialty Docket Commission and Ohio Judicial College.
Judge Robb also said she is familiar with the appellate court, having written briefs and given oral arguments before it while she was in private law practice.
She adds she also has a business background. She and her husband are former owners of a fuel-distribution business and of local gasoline stations and convenience stores.
As to why she should be elected to the appeals court, she said: “Experience, experience, experience. ... Life experience, business experience, practice of law experience, judicial experience.”
Donofrio said, however, he has spent his entire 23-year legal career as a trial lawyer and has handled serious felony and complex civil cases.
“I have the greatest amount of legal experience, a broad amount of legal experience, and, in this court that I’m running for, the court of appeals, that’s what matters,” Donofrio said.
Donofrio said he has been an assistant county prosecutor and has prosecuted and defended cases in juvenile court.
He said he has extensive legal research and writing experience, including preparation of motions and appeals briefs, and drafting of ordinances, contracts and legal opinions.
In his more than six years at the B.J. Alan Fireworks Co., he practiced corporate law and served as the company’s human resources director, giving him broad experience in employment, zoning, land use and construction law, he said.
“We have a family history of administration of justice, dedication to public service, of equality, of integrity. I think all those things matter. We have a proven track record,” Donofrio said.
He was referring to his father, retired Judge Joseph Donofrio, and his brother, Judge Gene Donofrio, both of the 7th District Court of Appeals.
“I want to do a good job. ... I want to make my family proud,” Donofrio added.