Some of the biggest races on the ballot next year could be for the Ohio Supreme Court. Two seats now held by Republican justices will be open. A prominent Democrat who has held statewide office says she wants one of them.
Appeals Court Judge and former Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner said she is running for the seat now held by Justice Judith French. Brunner said she is running because the court will take up big issues like criminal justice and property rights.
“The Supreme Court sort of sets the tone for what issues are we going to consider, what issues are we going to look at, how are we going to look at them and they have a way, as I saw when I was Secretary of State protecting people’s votes, of filtering down to affect people in the most intimate ways.”
Brunner will join Cleveland Judge John O’Donnell in a run for the high court. If both win, it would tip the control of the court to Democrats, which could be important in 2021 if there are challenges to the state’s new redistricting process.
