It’s now increasingly likely there will be a slew of Republicans running for Ohio Supreme Court next year, after the Ohio Republican Party opted not to issue an endorsement in the race during its meeting on Friday.
The party had been gearing up to try to clear a field of five candidates who’d lined up to challenge Democratic Justice Jennifer Brunner next year. Party officials set up a candidate screening committee that recommended Ron Lewis, a state appeals judge from Xenia. But Lewis pulled his name from consideration last month, and endorsement ended up getting pulled from the agenda at a state party meeting in Columbus on Friday.
Alex Triantifilou, the state party chairman, wouldn’t rule out the possibility that party committee members may change their mind at a future meeting. But, he said the race may end up looking like the 2022 and 2024 U.S. Senate primary elections, which each featured multiple GOP candidates.
“There’s a school of thought in this party that iron sharpens iron, right? So if there’s a primary, so be it,” Triantifilou said.
Who’s running for Ohio Supreme Court? It’s hard to say.
The crowded Republican primary elections may reflect Ohio’s increasingly Republican lean. Previously, state party leaders have preferred to avoid primary elections, allowing them to save resources to beat Democrats in the general election. But Republican contests have ended up getting more competitive as November elections have gotten less so.
In the Ohio Supreme Court race next year, the Republican field is jumbled for now, since candidates were factoring the potential party endorsement — which likely would have narrowed or completely cleared the field — into their political calculations.
Two candidates are definitely currently running in the GOP primary: Lewis and Andrew King, a state appellate judge from Granville.
A couple more — ex-Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Colleen O’Donnell and Rocky River Municipal Court Judge Joseph Burke — have said they are keeping their options open as they waited to see what the party would do.
Finally, Ohio Supreme Court Justice Pat Fischer previously dropped out of the race, saying he wouldn’t follow through on his plan to try to switch seats on the court after it appeared Lewis was on the path to getting the party endorsement. But Fischer attended Friday’s meeting, and a campaign spokesperson said Friday that he is uncertain whether Fischer may change his mind.
Next steps on the election calendar
The campaign currently is pretty muted, since it’s largely been focused at party insiders and winning the state GOP endorsement. But the race could pick up public steam in November — leading TV commercials or mailers — once a fundraising blackout period contained in state judicial rules lifts.
The Ohio Supreme Court is the top court in Ohio. It is the final decider on all criminal convictions that are appealed. It also often helps decide hot-button political questions like those involving abortion, education and redistricting, the process of drawing state legislative and congressional district maps.
Republicans currently hold six of the court’s seven seats. Brunner, Ohio’s lone remaining Democrat to be elected statewide, holds the seventh.