COLUMBUS, Ohio — For the second straight session, Republicans swept the slate of races for the Ohio Supreme Court on Tuesday, giving the party 6-1 control of the final leg of the judicial process.
The new and returning justices, who begin their terms in January, will form the largest majority on the court since 2018. The results of this and previous sessions may mark the end of a string of modest Democratic success in judicial races.
The results have not yet been certified, but the Associated Press declared the victories shortly after 11 p.m. According to preliminary state data, with nearly 94% of the state’s precincts counted as of nearly midnight, both Republicans won by roughly 11-point margins. The results were:
Judge Joe Deters (R) defeated fellow incumbent Judge Melody Stewart (D) 55.8% to 44.2%. Justice Megan Shanahan (R) defeated incumbent Justice Michael Donnelly (D) 56.3% to 43.7%. Judge Dan Hawkins (R) beat Judge Lisa Forbes (D) 55.7% to 44.4%.
This means Justice Jennifer Bruner will be the only Democrat on the court next year.
This marks the second straight GOP sweep of the Supreme Court — with Republicans taking three seats to three in 2022. It was the first session in more than a century that, thanks to a change in Ohio law, mentioned a justice’s party affiliation on the ballot.
While any number of cases and controversies will reach the new justices, they will almost certainly be involved in the court’s first decisions on Ohio’s new reproductive freedom constitutional rights passed in 2023. They may also take up future redistricting cases, though Voters rejected the reforms proposed in the first issue.
Ohio GOP Chairman Alex Triantafilou announced Republican victories to a hall of supporters around 9:45 p.m.
The three candidates made brief remarks. Shanahan pledged to “abide by the Constitution and the laws as they are written” and promote a “conservative approach” on the bench. Hawkins said he would “protect the public and uphold the Constitution and the rule of law.” The deterrents praised Triantafilo and stressed the “strength of this party.”
Shortly after the three spoke, Ohio Right to Life, Ohio’s most prominent anti-abortion lobby group supportive of the three, issued a congratulatory statement.
“As it currently stands, six out of seven justices on the Ohio Supreme Court are certified by Right to Life Ohio,” the organization said in a statement. “We are happy to know that the value of life lies in the hearts of these individuals and that they will stand up for life.”
Both Forbes and Stewart declined to comment Tuesday evening. Donnelly said his time on the field was the honor of a lifetime.
“Every time I visit a city or town, I will never forget how much the citizens of Ohio support me,” he said. “I have always considered the laws of our democracy to be the law. I am proud of the opinions I have written. I have written about 30 dissents during my six years, and I have authored four academic papers on criminal justice reform.”
Contrary to Democrats’ wishes, Republicans refrained from holding any one-on-one public debates during the campaign. In ads and media appearances, GOP candidates present themselves as guardians of public safety and constitutionalists who will interpret the law as written rather than “legislating from the bench.”
The three Democrats sought to center their message around a recent 4-3 decision in which Republicans denied a man access to a jury trial after he choked on a bone on a “boneless” chicken wing.
Despite his hospital stay, medically induced coma and infection, the justices ruled that the man should have been aware of the possibility of bones in a “bone-free” ward and, therefore, could not take his claim to trial, an outcome that Democrats called absurd and ill-advised. Fair to consumers. They also consolidated their support from pro-choice organizations and the anti-abortion support of the three Republicans.
In an unusual twist, Deters’ victory marks Stewart’s exit from the field. Typically, incumbent judges compete against outside competitors. But instead of running for his seat in 2026, Deters chose to run against Stewart in her re-election bid. Stewart referred to the maneuver as uncooperative, to say the least.
For decades, Deters served as Hamilton County’s prosecutor until Gov. Mike DeWine appointed him to fill the unexpired term of newly elected Chief Justice Sharon Kennedy. Stewart, in 2018, became the first Black woman elected to the state Supreme Court, and compared her background to the “nepotism” that Dieter benefited from getting his job from Dewayne, a family friend, rather than winning the election.
Hawkins, a former prosecutor who has led Franklin County’s common pleas and environmental courts since 2013, will fill the remaining two years of Deters’ term. Forbes will retain her seat on the Cleveland-based 8th District Court of Appeals for the District of Ohio.
Jake Zuckerman covers state politics and policy for Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer.
