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Mahoning Republicans pick three finalists for county court judge seat
BOARDMAN
The Mahoning County Republican Party is recommending the governor choose from among three former Mahoning County Court candidates – including two who ran last year – to succeed Judge David D’Apolito for his seat on that court.
“It was a challenge picking just three names to send to Columbus,” said Mark Munroe, county Republican Party chairman and a member of the seven-person screening committee that made the recommendations.
“We had a group of well-qualified attorneys” and “more than three of them were standouts. In the end, we had to make some very hard choices. Regardless of whom the governor selects, Mahoning County will be served by a quality judge.”
Eight people applied for the position.
The three finalists are:
J.P. Morgan, who finished fourth in a six-person race Nov. 6, 2018, for a different county court judicial seat won by Molly Johnson.
A. Ross Douglass, who finished last in that same judicial race.
Ronald Knickerbocker, who unsuccessfully ran in 2000 for a county court seat.
“Three of the applicants received a majority of the recommendations,” Munroe said. “It was clear that we were presented with well-qualified candidates, but in the end, it appeared the committee members were able to agree on what factors to consider and were able to coalesce around three names.”
Gov. Mike DeWine will make the appointment. The seat is up for election in 2020.
Judge D’Apolito, a Democrat, will vacate the position Feb. 8. He serves on the area court bench in Austintown.
Judge D’Apolito was elected in November to a seat on the eight-county 7th District Court of Appeals, defeating Judge Kathleen Bartlett, a Republican appointed by then-Gov. John Kasich in March 2018 to fill an empty seat on that court. The appeals court term begins Feb. 8.
Judge Bartlett lost the race by 2.1 percentage points, winning seven of the eight counties in the district. But she lost in Mahoning County by 26.9 percentage points.
Judge Bartlett was among the eight candidates who applied for the county court position.
“Most difficult was not including Kathleen Bartlett. She is well-liked and was a good candidate for the appeals court,” Munroe said. “Unfortunately, there was a feeling that she already had the benefit of a rare governor’s appointment, and it was appropriate to give a shot to another candidate whose focus was the county court. The three standouts whose names were submitted had previously been candidates for the county court.”
The four other applicants for the seat were Robert Harvey, Mark Hanni, T. Robert Bricker and Jeffrey Joseph.
The screening committee members were Munroe; Thomas McCabe, the party’s first vice chairman; Jill Downie, second vice chairwoman; Dave Shaffer, party secretary; Atty. Mark Mangie; Atty. Marty Bushy; and Tracey Winbush, a county board of elections member.