November’s General Election Features 77 Municipal Judge Seats, Most Uncontested

By Bret Crow | October 16, 2013

Image of a chart breaking down the 2013 judicial elections candidates

Seventy-seven municipal court judgeships will be decided in the upcoming November 5 election in jurisdictions across the state.

Ohioans in 16 jurisdictions will be the only voters statewide who will choose from more than one candidate on the ballot for municipal court judge.

There are 77 municipal court judgeships up for grabs in the November 5 general election, but 61 of them (79 percent) are uncontested.

Three municipal court judge elections stand out:

Oakwood Municipal Court claims the most competitive race in the state with eight candidates vying to replace retiring Judge Robert L. Deddens, who is constitutionally barred from running again because of his age.
A seat on the Cleveland Municipal Court for an unexpired term ending January 4, 2018 has six candidates on the ballot. The seat originally became vacant after Judge Michael J. Ryan was elected in November 2012 to the Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court. The current seat-holder appointed by the governor is not on the ballot.
Come Election Day Mark E. Repp officially will become the first judge to preside over the consolidated Tiffin-Fostoria Municipal Court. The governor signed legislation earlier this year that combined the Tiffin Municipal Court and the Fostoria Municipal Court and outlined the timing of an election. Judge Repp, initially elected to the Tiffin court, has been serving as a visiting judge in Fostoria since July 2012 following the death of former Judge Barbara L. Marley.

All judges in Ohio are elected to six-year terms. Elections for municipal court judgeships occur in odd-numbered years, while elections for the Ohio Supreme Court, appeals courts, common pleas courts, and county courts occur in even-numbered years.

The Supreme Court website will post results from all municipal court races by noon the day after Election Day.

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.

For more information about the candidates for municipal court, visit the Ohio Judicial Conference website or consult one of Ohio’s 88 county boards of elections.