One of the Ohio Supreme Court’s six Republican justices said he’s abandoned his plan to switch races and run against one of his colleagues on the bench. Justice Pat Fischer, who was re-elected in 2022, said in May he would run next year against Justice Jennifer Brunner, the only statewide elected Democrat in Ohio.
In an interview, Fischer said he will follow through on what he said this weekend to a panel that interviewed candidates to recommend one for the Ohio Republican Party's endorsement. The screening committee recommended Second Court of Appeals Judge Ron Lewis.
"During the presentation to the Ohio Republican Party's judicial screening committee, I was asked if not endorsed would I run. And I said no," Fischer said. "And I keep my word, and so I'm not running."
Fischer’s seat won’t be up again until 2028. But he’d be 71, and justices can’t run past the age of 70.
Supporters of four other Republican candidates had blasted Fischer’s plan to run. House Finance Chair Brian Stewart (R-Ashville), who said he respected Fischer but is backing Fifth District Court of Appeals Judge Andrew King, wrote on X: "If Justice Fischer could legally run for re-election to his own seat, I would support him again. But he cannot." Licking County Republican Party Chairman Matt Dole, who also supports King, said in a statement that Fischer's plan was a “transparent political stunt”.
But Fischer said he had reasons for jumping into the race against Brunner.
“I was the top vote-getter in 2022 among the six candidates. And I felt that I could beat her. And so I put my name out there," Fischer said.
Fischer's plan was similar to a situation from last year, which had two sitting justices facing one another on the ballot.
Justice Joe Deters, who was appointed to finish out the final two years of Justice Sharon Kennedy's term after she was elected chief justice over Brunner in 2022, switched races to run against Justice Melody Stewart, who was one of the court's three Democrats at the time. But Deters defeated Stewart, winning a full six-year term that expires in 2030. If Deters had run for the seat he'd been appointed to, he would have had to run again in 2026 for a six-year term.
