Ohio Supreme Court races on November ballot to determine balance of power

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- There are several high-profile races on the ballot this Nov. 5, including three seats for the Ohio Supreme Court that will determine the balance of power on the court.

"Supreme Court races and judicial races in general are almost always low interest races that voters don't really pay enough attention to," Republican strategist Ryan Stubenrauch said. "The Ohio Supreme Court decides far more cases and far more local issues compared to the United States Supreme Court."

"Because of all the hype over presidential, these sometimes get lost,” Democratic Strategist David Pepper said. "But for Ohio's democracy and for freedom, Ohio, these races are as important as it gets."

The Ohio Supreme Court is made up of seven members, right now four republicans and three democrats. Two of the seats on the ballot are currently held by Democrats -- but are being challenged by Republican candidates and one is an open seat. The races are:

• Lisa Forbs (D) vs. Dan Hawkins (R).
• Incumbent Melody Steward (D) vs. Joe Deters (R). Deters does also currently sit on the court, appointed by Gov. Mike DeWine in 2023.
• Incumbent Michael Donnelly (D) vs. Megan Shanahan (R).

"We've had big debates in Ohio over gerrymandering. We have one right now over reproductive freedom, abortion access. This court will be the one deciding on all those issues in the coming years," Pepper said.

"From the Republican standpoint, we want to keep control of the court. We want to keep a court that is conservative and makes decisions based on what the law says, not what some justice thinks the law should be," Stubenrauch said.

High profile decisions tend to rise to the level of the Ohio Supreme Court. For example, it is likely that several cases related to reproductive rights will ultimately be in its hands. And the court is currently considering an issue regarding ballot language for Ohio’s only statewide issue this fall.

Stubenracuh said if the court flips to the Democrats, that would be a “monumental policy shift in how cases are decided.”

“Sometimes the more Democrat or liberal leaning justices will sometimes read more into what they think the law ought to be. And a lot of the more conservative legal justices, they will make decisions based on what the law says, regardless of what they think it should say,” he said. “Back in the nineties, when we had Democrats controlling the Ohio Supreme Court, many court decisions were made based on what some a couple of the justices thought should be the law.”

But Pepper sees it differently. He points to the court’s recent decision, that chicken wings advertised as “boneless” can have bones in them.

“Those things may sound kind of funny on the surface, but if you have a court that can say that boneless chicken means with bones, you have a court that could literally eliminate the reproductive freedom language that we just added to our Constitution,” Pepper said.

“Even the Republicans who are not pro-abortion, they will still continue to make decisions based on the way the Constitution says,” Stubenrauch said. “Abortion is one issue that the Ohio Supreme Court has heard a lot of cases in the past and certainly will again in the future. But abortion is also an issue where the federal courts have arguably more sway on some issues as well.”

Pepper said beyond that, he thinks the Ohio Supreme Court has “enormous” ethical issues.

“You literally have cases where a son, DeWine, is ruling in cases involving his father,” he said. “Justice Deters appointed with no judicial experience, is ruling on cases that he was involved with at the lower level as a lawyer.”

But the court does not only rule on high profile cases, but it can also impact Ohioans at personal levels too. Stubenrauch said the Ohio Supreme Court is the “court of last resort, AKA the last word,” on any legal dispute in Ohio.

“Any criminal case has a potential to go to the Ohio Supreme Court. And then there's, you know, of course, hundreds of civil cases from utilities law to business disputes, contracts,” Stubenrauch said, “You know, everything from auto accidents to speeding tickets fight can find its way to the Ohio Supreme Court.”

As of 2022, party affiliations for Ohio Supreme Court races do appear on the ballot, so you will be able to see which candidate aligns with each party when you are voting. Each term is six years, and justices can serve an unlimited number of terms until they turn 70.