Thu 6/16 @ 5:30PM
You’ll be hearing a lot about candidates for statewide races in the next five months, leading up to the November 8 election. A U.S Senate race pits congressman Tim Ryan of the Youngstown area against venture capitalist J.D. Vance of San Francisco/suburban Cincinnati. Governor Mike DeWine is facing a challenge from former Dayton mayor Nan Whaley. And the GOP incumbents in the secretary of state, attorney general, treasurer and auditor races all have credible, accomplished Democratic challengers.
But there are three races that are as important, if not more important, than those: three of the seats on the Ohio Supreme Court are up for election. Justices Pat Fischer and Pat DeWine, both Republicans, are running for reelection while chief justice Maureen O’Connor is leaving her position due to age limits. And fair elections in Ohio will depend on the winners of these races. Yet, sadly, too many voters give up marking their ballot long before they reach the judicial races. That needs to stop. Ohio’s future could depend on these votes.
Columbus area attorney Terri Jamison, currently an Appeals Court judge in Franklin County, is running against Pat Fischer. Marilyn Zayas, who is a judge on the Appeals Court in the Cincinnati area, is taking on Pat DeWine. Both have impressive backgrounds, with Jamison, who is African-American having risen out of the coal mining region of West Virginia while Zayas, a Latina, came from a hardscrabble New York ghetto background.
Meanwhile two current justices are vying for O’Connor’s chair: Democrat Jennifer Brunner and Republican Sharon Kennedy.
Here’s the bottom line: the Ohio Supreme Court was (supposedly) made the ultimate judge of the new legislative and congressional maps. Kennedy, Fischer and DeWine dug in their heels to approve the gerrymandered maps that violated the redistricting requirements written into the Ohio state constitution by more than 70% of the voters. (DeWine refused to recuse himself even though his father the governor was a party to the case.) O’Connor, a Republican who put the rule of law above party, said, “Not ok.”
Unfortunately, due to machinations by the GOP members of the redistricting commission who treated the state constitution as optional, we’ll be holding elections this fall under radically gerrymandered maps whose only goal is maintaining outsized GOP power. We’re told it can be remedied in 2024. But if Fischer and DeWine are still on the court and Kennedy leads it, there will be no fair districts in Ohio for a long, long time, if ever.
Brunner, Jamison and Zayas have already shown that they believe the state constitution should be followed. They believe in justice and fairness for the people of Ohio, not power for any political party at any cost. But if Democrats don’t vote for them we’ll have a state Supreme Court as lopsided and unresponsive to the needs of Ohio citizens as our current lopsided legislature. It’s important to vote all the way own the ballot.
All three Democrats are out and about making appearances and talking to organizations. The Cuyahoga Democratic Women’s Caucus is sponsoring an upcoming event to hear from them at the Pivot Center for Art, Dance and Expression in the Clark/Fulton neighborhood. They’ll explain the role of the state Supreme Court and why they believe they’re the best qualified candidates. Local judicial candidates will be on hand as well, and it’s a good idea to learn about these candidates and the seats they’re running for, and how they impact the lives of people in the county. All are welcome; RSVP to info@cuyahogadwc.org. Box dinners will be provided.
Learn more about these judges at