Ohio Supreme Court Justice Jennifer Brunner (Photo courtesy of The Ohio Channel)
Democratic judges are fighting an uphill battle to get to the Ohio Supreme Court by a 6-1 vote, where Justice Jennifer Brunner is an island in a sea of Republican judges. But she and another judge running for office in November sense a change in the weather when it comes to Democratic support, both inside and outside the court system.
“As I travel around the state, I am amazed by the movement, the energy and the kind of wave that I feel in counties across the state,” Brunner said Tuesday during the Ohio Democratic Party’s main evening event.
Brunner has served on the court since 2021, but until last year she shared the bench with two other Democratic judges.
Races for the state’s top judicial offices became clearly partisan when Republican state lawmakers added party labels to races starting in 2022. Since that change, the court’s voting ratio has gone from 4-3 to 6-1 Republicans.
“It doesn’t bother me,” Brunner said. “But I could certainly use a little more company.”
In the last general election in 2024, Justice Melody Stewart and Justice Michael P. Donnelly lost to Republican Justices Joe Deters and Megan Shanahan.
Brunner will now face Republican challenger and former Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Colleen O’Donnell, who emerged from the crowded main field appellate judges on Tuesday, earning 32% of the vote in unofficial results from the Ohio Secretary of State.
She was successful in the election by a margin of less than 18,000 votes between her and her closest opponent, Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Andrew King.
“This is a victory not only for my campaign team, but for all Ohioans who support law and order, public safety and fair, consistent court decisions,” O’Donnell said in a statement tardy Tuesday evening.
Brunner told the crowd of Democratic supporters that she wants to be “part of the foundation and strong shoulders that people like (governorial candidate Dr.) Amy Acton can stand on.”
She said the energy she sees from voters shows dissatisfaction with the way government is working, especially Republican leadership at the federal level.
“We know we all have problems in life… and every time we look up, thinking we might gain a little hope, there comes out of Washington this noise, this madness and this feeling that this is not our country,” she said.
If Brunner loses the Nov. 3 election and Judge Dan Hawkins defends his seat against Democratic challenger, First Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Marilyn Zayas, the Ohio Supreme Court will be a full 7-0 Republican.
While campaigning to join Brunner on the court, Zayas also feels a different energy in the 2026 election.
“I see us losing faith in our court because of politics, and there is no place for politics on the Ohio Supreme Court,” said Zayas, who was unopposed in her primary race.
Zayas said the state is at a crossroads where victories by both Democrats in 2026 could provide the opportunity to hire more judges in 2028.
“We have to do this because the alternative is too dire,” Zayas said.
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