The second set of races Ohio voters will see on this fall’s ballot – just after the presidential contest - are the three seats on the Ohio Supreme Court. For the second time, the candidates for justice are running under party labels, and there are some big differences between those running for each seat.
Justice Joe Deters v. Justice Melody Stewart
Perhaps the highest profile race is the one between two justices. First term Democrat Melody Stewart is running for re-election, and Republican Joe Deters, who was appointed to the court last year, switched races to run against Stewart and get his first full term.
Stewart, who was a court of appeals judge for 12 years before being elected to the Ohio Supreme Court, says Deters is asking voters to elect him to a position he’s never been elected to before.
"He is leaving a seat that he was given to to run for another seat," Stewart said. "So what he's saying is to voters is, not only should you elect me to a position that no one in the State of Ohio has ever elected him to, you should also remove from the court the most experienced appellate jurist on the court, the only person of color on the court, the most educated person on the court."
LISTEN - Meet Ohio's Supreme Court candidates
Deters had never been a judge before but has been the Hamilton County Prosecutor twice, including when he was appointed. He says he’s heard “whining” on his decision to run against Stewart, But Deters said he was always clear with Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine that he wanted to run for a full six-year term when he was appointed to the court, and that Ohio Republican Party chairman Alex Triantafilou "decided it was best I run against Melody. It was either Melody or [Justice] Mike [Donnelly], so they made the call."
“I would suggest that I have more trial experience than every justice on that court as combined," Deters said. "I've tried more cases. I've been in court as a trial attorney more than any of them, and maybe all of them combined because they've all been basically judges.”
All three of the races feature criticism from the Republicans over a ruling limiting excessive bail because public safety shouldn’t be a consideration in setting bail in cash, and Democrats blasting the ruling that consumers can’t expect chicken wings advertised as boneless to actually be bone-free.
Justice Michael Donnelly v. Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Megan Shanahan
The other sitting justice running is first-term Democrat Michael Donnelly, challenged by Republican Megan Shanahan, who’s in her second term as a Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge.
Shanahan noted Donelly agreed in the public safety and cash bail case.
“My biggest concern is that he was willing to put Ohio in such incredible danger that judges shall not consider public safety when setting bond," Shanahan said. "That is my biggest concern that we are dealing with a jurist that is putting our, our public at risk of violent offenses being committed.”
Donnelly said he wrote a concurring opinion in that case that said the Eighth Amendment prohibits excessive bail, but that state law allows for hearings to deny bail. And he said he’s concerned about Shanahan’s opposition to a statewide database to track criminal sentencing.
“I have been the most vocal advocate for a centralized sentencing database that we desperately need in order to remove systemic bias in sentencing. My opponent, on the other hand, has written an op-ed in which she totally disagrees with my position," Donnelly said.
Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Dan Hawkins v.
Eighth Court of Appeals Judge Lisa Forbes
And there’s a race between two non-incumbents: Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Dan Hawkins, a Republican in his second term and Eighth District Court of Appeals Judge Lisa Forbes, a Democrat on that bench since 2020.
Hawkins, the only Republican judge in Franklin County, said he got into the race after that controversial bail case.
“It was the ultimate activist decision coming from a court," Hawkins said. "Having to look a homicide victim's family in the eye or a rape victim in the eye and say, sorry, the Supreme Court said I can't consider your public safety when saying the bail - I just thought it was outrageous, and it was just a step too far.”
Forbes was the only candidate of the six to face a primary in March. She was the endorsed Democrat and defeated Tenth District Court of Appeals Judge Teri Jamison, who had run for the Ohio Supreme Court in 2022. Forbes said the case that all three Democrats in this race have been highlighting shows how important the Supreme Court is to average Ohioans.
“We recently saw this case out of the Supreme Court concluding that an individual did not have a right to a trial by jury because here in Ohio we should understand that boneless means you should expect bones in your product that you paid more for and purchased," Forbes said.
The candidates are running under partisan labels for only the second time in Ohio history. The Republican candidates said the party designation on the ballot gives voters information, while the Democratic candidates said the race should be nonpartisan.
If all three Democrats win, the court will have a Democratic majority for the first time since 1994. If all three Republicans win, the party balance on the Ohio Supreme Court will be 6-1.
