Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder reignited the canvass at a recent event for three Democratic candidates running for the Ohio Supreme Court.
Holder joined incumbent Democratic judge Melody Stewart, who is seeking re-election, at a canvassing event in Columbus on Thursday afternoon.
“Three great candidates for the Ohio Supreme Court that we have to work for, vote for and put there,” Holder said before Democratic volunteers knocked on doors. “The stakes are too high. The stakes are simply too high. Donald Trump created an entitlement structure for the Republican Party. He basically transformed the Republican Party, maybe even destroyed it, and now it’s basically a MAGA cult.
Six candidates are vying for three seats on the Ohio Supreme Court, with Republicans currently holding a 4-3 majority.
Megan Shanahan, a Republican judge of the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas, will face the incumbent Democratic Justice Michael P. Donnelly. Republican Judge Joseph Deters has decided not to run for his current seat and will instead run for Stewart’s seat for a full six-year term. Republican Judge Dan Hawkins and Democratic Judge Lisa Forbes of the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals are running for Deters’ vacant seat, whose term expires on December 31, 2026.
“There are a whole host of issues that the Supreme Court will consider, and the people who currently sit on the Supreme Court are really nothing more than a rubber stamp for a rigged GOP legislature,” he added. Handle he said.
Holder, who was attorney general under former President Barack Obama from February 2009 to April 2015, is campaigning in several states ahead of the elections, including: Michigan and North Carolina.
“Supreme courts can impact your daily life, the decisions they make include reproductive rights, climate, voter protection, criminal justice reform,” Holder said. “There are a number of issues that affect every American that will be decided by state supreme courts. … that’s why this election is really crucial,” Holder said.
While the event was mostly about Ohio Supreme Court races, Holder took a moment to outline his support for Democrat Sherrod Brown in the Senate and the proposed redistricting reform in Ohio No. 1.
Stewart talked about her opponent Deters while canvassing, but never mentioned him by name.
“I hope we have sent a message to our governor regarding his recent political nomination who has chosen to run against me, a man who was appointed to an empty seat on the Supreme Court that no single voter in the state of Ohio has ever elected to fill. the position of the one who among the six candidates has the lowest qualifications and who got into this position only because he cooperates well with the voivode,” she said.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine appointed Deters to the Ohio Supreme Court in January 2023, despite having no prior judicial experience. The Deters and DeWines they are family friends, they have known each other for 30 years.
““I hope that we send a message to the governor and that all governors after him, both Republicans and Democrats, do not exploit their appointment powers to place political puppets in our judiciary,” Stewart said.
She also talked about the 2021 bill that added party labels to Ohio Supreme Court races.
“We were hoping you would just blindly follow the party line and vote,” she said. “The danger is that you are politicizing your judiciary. … I don’t want any Ohioan to ever walk into a courtroom and say, ‘I wonder if that’s a Republican judge or a Democratic judge.’ If the law is on your side, you should win.
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