C. Ellen Connally, co-chair of the Cleveland-based organization Judge4Yourself, resigned on Wednesday hours after the Ohio Republican Party called out her “hyper-partisan and inappropriate behavior towards Republican elected officials.”
Judge4Yourself is an organization of local bar associations that rates judicial candidates.
Earlier this week, the Ohio Republican Party sent a letter to the group denying requests to interview the Republican candidates for Ohio Supreme Court, arguing that while the organization “claims to be an independent coalition that examines judicial candidates who appear on the ballot in Cuyahoga County, the radical behavior of their leadership demonstrates they are anything but.”
The Ohio Republican Party specifically pointed to social media posts made by the group’s co-chair, Connally, who attacked Republican candidates including former President Donald Trump, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott (R-SC), and Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
“The Party is going to take the groundbreaking position that Republican candidates should not participate in a process led by someone who advocates for physical violence against Republicans. C. Ellen Connally’s behavior is repulsive and no serious jurist should waste their time trying to win her approval. ‘Judge4Yourself’ will not be hearing from our candidates for Supreme Court and we hope they will not hear from any Republicans moving forward,” Executive Director of the Ohio Republican Party Cameron Sagester said in a statement.
The Party said Connally “cannot be trusted to be an impartial voice in the “Judge4Yourself” process,” and advised GOP candidates across the state to “decline any invitation” from the organization.
“With Connally in a leadership position, Judge4Yourself cannot be trusted to be independent, bipartisan, or anything other than another far-left organization that seeks to harm Republican candidates,” the Buckeye State’s Republican Party said.
Hours after the Party issued its press release on the matter, Cleveland.com reported that Connally resigned from her position of co-chair. She had served in the role since 2019.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Ohio Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Image “C. Ellen Connally” by Cuyahoga County Council.
