The Ohio Republican Party released a statement denouncing the Ohio Democratic Party’s announcement of its full slate of candidates for the 2024 state Supreme Court race.
The state’s Democratic Party is throwing its full support behind state Supreme Court Justices Melody Stewart (pictured above, left) and Michael Donnelly (pictured above, right), who are both running for re-election and Eighth District Court of Appeals Judge Lisa Forbes from Cleveland, who is running for election to the state’s highest court.
“With today’s announcement, the Ohio Democrat Party has chosen to double down on candidates who are soft on crime and will make our communities and families less safe,” Ohio GOP Executive Director Cameron Sagester said in a statement. “Justices Donnelly and Stewart will have to explain to the people of Ohio why they voted to prevent judges across Ohio from considering public safety when setting bail for those accused of violent crime, and Judge Forbes will have to explain to voters whether or not she agreed with the decision of her ticket mates.”
Sagester was referring to a 2022 decision in DuBose v. McGuffey by the Ohio Supreme Court that ruled a $1.5 million bond for a man who fatally shot another man during an alleged robbery was too high.
Months after the ruling, Ohio voters overwhelmingly voted to pass Ohio Issue 1, the Determining Bail Amount Based on Public Safety Amendment, which amended the Ohio Constitution to “require courts to consider factors such as public safety, the seriousness of the offense, a person’s criminal record, and a person’s likelihood of returning to court when setting the amount of bail.”
Meanwhile, the Ohio GOP said its endorsed candidates for the 2024 state Supreme Court race are all “former prosecutors who know firsthand the impact judges have on the safety of the people of Ohio.”
“In contrast, the Ohio Republican Party’s endorsed candidates, Justice Joe Deters, and Judges Megan Shanahan and Dan Hawkins, are all former prosecutors who know firsthand the impact judges have on the safety of the people of Ohio,” Sagester added. “We look forward to presenting the choice between the experienced law officials of the Ohio Republican Party and the radical activists of the Ohio Democratic Party to voters in 2024.”
The Ohio Democratic Party said its state Supreme Court candidates align with the party’s fight for “justice, fairness and equality.”
– – –
Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Ohio Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Background Photo “Ohio Judicial Center” by Sixflashphoto. CC BY-SA 4.0.
