A total of 217 judgeships are on the May 6 primary ballot statewide with the vast majority uncontested.

A total of 217 judgeships are on the May 6 primary ballot statewide with the vast majority uncontested.

Two weeks from today, Ohio voters will cast ballots for 217 judges in the May 6 primary election.

Judicial elections for the Ohio Supreme Court, district courts of appeals, county common pleas courts, and county courts occur in even-numbered years. In the cycle for judgeships up for election every even-numbered year, 2014 is the one with the most on the ballot that occurs every six years. All judges in Ohio are elected to six-year terms.

Two incumbent Supreme Court Justices – Sharon L. Kennedy and Judith L. French – are unopposed on the Republican primary ballot. Their opponents in November’s general election are State Rep. Tom Letson and Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge John P. O’Donnell, respectively. They are unopposed on the Democratic primary ballot.

As for the state’s appeals courts, there are 23 judgeships on the ballot with 4 of those contested races in the primary. Voters will elect candidates for 192 common pleas judge positions with 26 of these contested in the primary. County court judges do not run in primary elections.

Court News Ohio will post results from all races by noon on May 7.

Supreme Court staff members assemble the election results from the local county boards of elections for administrative purposes and to communicate with new judges about payroll, benefits, and other information.

For more information about the candidates, consult one of Ohio’s 88 county boards of elections.