Nov. 9, 2011
Voters Defeat Issue 1, Unseat Nine Judicial Incumbents
Ohio voters defeated a statewide issue that would have let judges serve on the bench longer. They also elected 109 judges to the municipal court bench in Tuesday’s general election.
According to complete but unofficial results from the Ohio Secretary of State’s office, Issue 1 was defeated 62 percent to 38 percent. The ballot issue would have raised the maximum age at which a judge could be elected to office.
Supreme Court of Ohio Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor supported Issue 1 and expressed her disappointment that the issue failed.
“Issue 1 would have been a step in the right direction for age equality in Ohio, but progress sometimes takes time. I understand the hesitation people have to make a policy change like this. I hope we continue to move toward a world where arbitrary age limits are not placed on public service, and the only thing that matters is a citizen’s ability to serve.”
As for the municipal judges on the ballot, 39 of the races were contested. Of those, nine challengers defeated incumbents.
Those incumbents are as follows:
- Akron Municipal Court Judge Thomas M. McCarty was defeated by Joy M. Oldfield.
- Clermont County Municipal Court Judge W. Kenneth Zuk was defeated by George E. Pattison.
- Cleveland Municipal Court Judge Lynn A. McLaughlin-Murray was defeated by Pinkey S. Carr.
- East Cleveland Municipal Court Judge Sandra L. Walker was defeated by William L. Dawson.
- Franklin County Municipal Court Judge Eric S. Brown was defeated by James P. O’Grady.
- Franklin County Municipal Court Judge W. Dwayne Maynard was defeated by David C. Young
- Hamilton County Municipal Court Judge Matthew W. Fellerhoff was defeated by Megan E. Shanahan.
- Hamilton County Municipal Court Judge David C. Stockdale was defeated by William L. Mallory Jr.
- Hocking County Municipal Court Judge Pauline E. O’Neill was defeated by Frederick T. Moses.
In addition, two races may trigger automatic recounts given the margin of victory out of the total number of votes cast. Those races are:
- Mary Casa received 2,519 votes to 2,514 votes for Gayle Williams-Byers – a margin of five votes – for the open seat on the South Euclid Municipal Court.
- A margin of 156 votes separates Franklin County Municipal Court Judge Andrea Peeples who received 122,293 votes to 122,137 votes for Barbara Pfeiffer.
All judges in Ohio are elected to six-year terms. Elections for municipal court judgeships occur in odd-numbered years, while elections for Supreme Court, appeals court, common pleas court, and county court judges occur in even-numbered years.
Supreme Court staff members assemble the election results from the local county boards of elections for administrative purposes, to communicate with new judges about payroll, benefits and other information.
Access the complete report of judicial election results prepared by Supreme Court staff. The results are not official and are subject to change.