Tight Ohio Supreme Court Stays in Republican Hands

Republicans solidified their year-old voting majority on the Ohio Supreme Court last wek, but the races were closer than the vast campaign fund-raising advantage over Democratic rivals would indicate.

Insurers and other business groups fought hard to win that majority after a controversial decision in a case related to commercial auto insurance coverage.

The departure of Francis Sweeney, 70, who must leave because of age limits, created the only open seat in the election. Republican Judith Ann Lanzinger, a Toledo appeals court judge, defeated Democrat Nancy Fuerst, a Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court judge.

Lanzinger’s campaign touted her 19 years experience on the bench at the municipal, county and appellate level compared with her opponent’s seven years as a judge. With 95 percent of precincts reporting early Wednesday, Lanzinger had 57 percent of the vote to 43 percent for Fuerst.

Voters also re-elected Republican Chief Justice Thomas Moyer and GOP appointee Terrence O’Donnell, who each raised more than 10 times the contributions of their opponents.

With 95 percent of precincts reporting, Moyer won his fourth six-year term with 53 percent of the vote to 47 percent for Democrat C. Ellen Connally, a retired Cleveland municipal judge; and O’Donnell, a former Cleveland judge, beat appeals court Judge William O’Neill of Warren, 60 percent to 40 percent.

Before O’Donnell was appointed last year, two moderate Republicans often joined Democrats in 4-3 decisions criticized by business groups. Recent rulings have gone largely 4-3 in favor of insurance companies and other businesses.

Lanzinger said she did not expect a partisan bloc for future decisions.
The court’s highest-profile decision last year was to declare for the third time that Ohio’s method of paying for public schools was unconstitutional, then it removed itself from the case and left the solution up to lawmakers. The incumbents’ return shows voters weren’t angry over that decision, said Herb Weisberg, a political science professor at Ohio State University.

Many voters skip races below the presidential ticket, Weisberg said. More than 5 million Ohioans cast a vote for president, while about 4 million voted in the three contested justice races.

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Topics Ohio Politics