Republicans solidified their year-old voting majority on the Ohio Supreme Court early today, but the races were closer than the vast campaign fund-raising advantage over Democratic rivals would indicate.
The departure of Francis Sweeney, 70, who must leave because of age limits, created the only open seat in the election. Republican Judith Ann Lanzinger, a Toledo appeals court judge, defeated Democrat Nancy Fuerst, a Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court judge.
Lanzinger's campaign touted her 19 years experience on the bench at the municipal, county and appellate level compared with her opponent's seven years as a judge. With 95 percent of precincts reporting early today, Lanzinger had 57 percent of the vote to 43 percent for Fuerst.
Many people told me they thought someone who had worked her way up through the judiciary and had served at so many levels was ready for the Supreme Court
said Lanzinger, who had double the campaign donations of Fuerst.
A man who answered the phone early today at Fuerst's suburban Cleveland home said she would not be available to comment until the morning.
Voters also re-elected Republican Chief Justice Thomas Moyer and GOP appointee Terrence O'Donnell, who each raised more than 10 times the contributions of their opponents.
With 95 percent of precincts reporting, Moyer won his fourth six-year term with 53 percent of the vote to 47 percent for Democrat C. Ellen Connally, a retired Cleveland municipal judge; and O'Donnell, a former Cleveland judge, beat appeals court Judge William O'Neill of Warren, 60 percent to 40 percent.
Before O'Donnell was appointed last year, two moderate Republicans often joined Democrats in 4-3 decisions criticized by business groups. Recent rulings have gone largely 4-3 in favor of insurance companies and other businesses.
Lanzinger said she did not expect a partisan bloc for future decisions.
I did not run on a political agenda nor did anyone else in this race she said.
The court's highest-profile decision last year was to declare for the third time that Ohio's method of paying for public schools was unconstitutional, then it removed itself from the case and left the solution up to lawmakers.
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