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Dems aim to reverse losing trend in Ohio Supreme Court elections
On the side
Based on the lists of potential witnesses submitted this week from the defendants in the Oakhill Renaissance Place criminal-corruption case, the defense strategy seems to be, in part, to put the purchase of the building on trial.
Various current and former Mahoning County officials who either supported or opposed the purchase of the former Forum Health Southside Medical Center fill the witness lists for the three defendants: Youngstown Mayor John A. McNally, ex-county Auditor Michael Sciortino, and Martin Yavorcik, a failed 2008 county prosecutor candidate.
There also are several Vindicator reporters and editors on the list, including myself. I’ll reserve comment on that, but I know with certainty that no one here will be intimidated by the tactic.
Democrats have done a lousy job getting their candidates elected to the Ohio Supreme Court in the last 13 years.
The only Democrat elected to the seven-member court during that time is Justice William M. O’Neill, who previously served a decade on the Warren-based 11th District Court of Appeals before his 2012 win. And even that was hardly a victory for the party as Justice O’Neill wasn’t the party’s endorsed candidate.
A couple of other Democrats, Eric Brown and Yvette McGee Brown, were appointed to the court by then-Gov. Ted Strickland. Both lost when they ran for election.
When you look at the quality of some of the candidates Democrats had on the ballot for Supreme Court over the years, it’s obvious the party struggled at times to find anyone good to run.
There are three Supreme Court seats on next year’s ballot.
Forget about a legitimate challenger to Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor.
The party tried to get Justice O’Neill to run for the seat, but he took a pass. That leaves Democrats searching for someone willing to take a bad loss in order for the party to fill the ballot.
However, there are real opportunities to pick up at least one of the two other seats. Those positions are being vacated next year by Justices Paul Pfeifer and Judith Ann Lanzinger.
Neither can run because of the state’s age restrictions on judges. Democrats are probably sorry to see Justice Pfeifer go. While a Republican, he’s one of the more moderate members of the high court.
Having two vacant Supreme Court seats in a presidential election year is a rare opportunity.
The Ohio Republican Party made its endorsements in September with both candidates from the 1st District Court of Appeals in Cincinnati.
For Justice Pfeifer’s seat, the party selected Judge Pat De-Wine. The son of Attorney General Mike DeWine, he’s a former Cincinnati councilman, Hamilton County commissioner and county common pleas court judge, and has served on the 1st District since 2013. He unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. House in 2005.
For Justice Lazinger’s seat, Republicans are backing Judge Pat Fischer, elected to an unexpired term on the appeals court in 2010 and re-elected in 2012. His only other political run was a 2007 loss for Cincinnati council.
For the first time since 1992, a GOP-endorsed candidate will have a primary. Judge Colleen Mary O’Toole of the 11th District Court of Appeals in Warren is challenging Judge Fischer.
Judge O’Toole was elected to the appeals court in 2004, lost a 2010 re-election bid, and was elected again in 2012.
“On the [Republican] side, the most-experienced candidate is the one they didn’t endorse,” observed Ohio Democratic Party Chairman David Pepper.
On the Democratic side, Judge John O’Donnell of Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court will run for the Justice Lanzinger seat.
Judge O’Donnell ran for the Supreme Court two years ago against Justice Judith L. French, getting 44 percent of the vote. While that’s hardly impressive, it was the highest percentage of the vote of any statewide Democrat on the 2014 ticket.
He was first elected in 2002 to a Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court seat for an unexpired term. He lost the Democratic primary for that seat in 2004, but won an open seat in 2006 and was re-elected in 2012.
For Justice Pfeifer’s seat, Judge Cynthia Rice of the 11th District Court of Appeals will file in the Democratic primary.
Apparently appeals judges based in courts in Cincinnati and Warren seem to gravitate toward running for the Supreme Court.
Judge Rice has been on the appeals bench since 2003, spent eight years as an assistant Trumbull County prosecutor, and two years as an assistant U.S. attorney based in Youngstown.
“This party has not done well in these [Supreme Court] races,” Pepper said. “We put together a task force of former judges in order to do a better job in recruiting. This is a huge opportunity for the two open seats. We’re not going to win back the majority in one election. But we have two good candidates.”
Pepper touted Judge Rice’s “strong legal resume. It shows how strong she is. We’re running against someone without that experience.”
That “someone” is Judge DeWine, who Democrats are painting as a political job-hopper with limited legal experience.
His record of seeking his sixth office in 15 years speaks for itself.
An Ohio Republican Party spokeswoman said the Democratic “spin on him is simply not true,” pointing to his 13 years at a large southwest Ohio law firm and that he teaches law.
It’s going to be difficult to defeat a DeWine statewide. But with the proper funding and a strong showing in Ohio by Hillary Clinton, who almost certainly will be the Democratic presidential nominee, Judge Rice could emerge the victor.