Former Democratic Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner has announced plans to seek a seat next year on the Ohio Supreme Court.
Brunner joins fellow Democrat John O'Donnell in respective challenges to incumbent Republican justices Judith French and Sharon Kennedy. Democrats currently hold just two of the court's seven seats. Ohio Public Radio's Jo Ingles reports.
Brunner says she is running because the court will take up big issues like criminal justice and property rights.
“The Supreme Court sort of sets the tone for what issues are we going to consider, what issues are we going to look at, how are we going to look at them and they have a way, as I saw when I was Secretary of State protecting people’s votes, of filtering down to affect people in the most intimate ways.”
Brunner will join Cleveland Judge John O’Donnell in a run for the high court. If both win, it would tip the control of the court to Democrats, which could be important in 2021 if there are challenges to the state’s new redistricting process.
