Brunner wins and Ohio Supreme Court Justice Sharon Kennedy wins reelection with support from Black Cleveland activists, Black Dems....Both win open seats on the state's high court, Judge Jennifer Brunner a popular Democrat and former Ohio secretary of state....By editor Kathy Wray Coleman of Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, the most read Black digital newspaper and blog in Ohio and in the Midwest
COLUMBUS, Ohio-Ohio Supreme Court Justice Sharon L. Kennedy, who was running for reelection to one of two open seats on the majority Republican, largely female, seven-member high court, won Tuesday night over Democrat John O'Donnell, a controversial common pleas judge in Cleveland's Cuyahoga County making his third failed bid for election to the state's high court.
An incumbent, Justice Judy French lost the other open seat on the court to Jennifer Brunner, a former Ohio secretary of state who currently serves as a judge on the 10th District Court of Appeals in Columbus.
Kennedy is a Republican, and Brunner a Democrat, the Republicans holding on to a majority at 4-3, though losing its 5-2 majority on election night, the court poised to hear a variety of issues next year, from congressional redistricting and gerrymandering to death penalty cases and property right matters.
Unofficial voting results reveal that Kennedy won with 54 percent of the vote, compared to O'Donnell's 45 percent, and Brunner, a popular Democrat, out did French 55 percent to her 44 percent.
Kennedy threaded into O'Donnell's Democratic territory in Franklin County with 46 percent of the vote to his 52 percent with some 66 percent of the vote reported at press time even though it is a Democratic stronghold, and she did the same thing in his own county of Cuyahoga , Franklin County the largest of Ohio's 88 counties and Cuyahoga County, which includes the majority Black city of Cleveland, the second largest.
Kennedy ran a grassroots campaign and enjoyed support from Black Cleveland activists and some Black Democrats upset that O'Donnell, in 2015, acquitted a since fired White Cleveland cop of manslaughter charges in a bench trial after the cop, Michael Brelo, gunned down two unarmed Blacks with 49 bullets.
A seasoned common pleas judge and Lakewood resident, O'Donnell was also accused of stealing homes of Black county residents via illegal foreclosures in cases before him for JPMorgan Chase Bank and other banks and mortgage companies.
Kennedy was elected to an unexpired term on the court in 2012 and then went on to win a six-year full term in 2014.
In a one-on-one interview with Rhonda Crowder, a reporter for Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, she described herself as a truthful judge and "a person who serves all Ohioans with a full heart."
"I will tell people the truth. I want them to see someone who has given their life to 34 years of service, service to the people," she said.
In her nearly 35 year career, Kennedy said she has seen many facets of the legal system in Ohio.
"In my 34 years of diverse service, I've looked at the justice system from all sides," said Kennedy, 58.
Judges, she said, should also work within the confines of the law, and other applicable authorities.
"If a judge is exercising power beyond his or her limited role, then he or she is acting beyond his or her power," Kennedy said
Party affiliation aside, some prominent Democrats within Ohio's Black community supported Justice Kennedy's bid for reelection.
Bishop Eugene Ward, senior pastor of Greater Love Missionary Baptist Church in Cleveland and a longtime community activist, said that during these times of social unrest and legal social justice, he had no choice but to support Justice Kennedy.
"I must look at my principles rather than my partisanship," said Rev. Ward before Tuesday's election. "My prayer is that I will stand with Justice Sharon Kennedy as she is re-elected to the Ohio State Supreme Court."
Jerry Primm, member of G-PAC, a greater Cleveland political action committee that endorsed Kennedy, agreed.
"She is a justice for all. She has made herself available to the Black community unlike her opponent who has avoided the Black community. She is not afraid to answer the tough questions. She's the truth," said Primm.
Among a long list of others, Kennedy was also endorsed by the Black Women's Political Action Committee of greater Cleveland and was recommended for re-election by the Cleveland NAACP.
Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, the most read Black digital newspaper and blog in Ohio and in the Midwest. Tel: (216) 659-0473. Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com.
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