Candidates for open Summit judge seat tout different experience
The candidates competing for an open seat on the Summit County Common Pleas Court bench both have years of legal experience but very different backgrounds.
Elisa Hill is a longtime city prosecutor and police legal adviser who is now a magistrate in Summit County Domestic Relations Court.
Jennifer Towell is a former U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General (JAG) Officer who now serves as a magistrate in Akron Municipal Court.
Both think their experience makes them the best candidate to fill a rare vacancy created by the recent resignation of Amy Corrigall Jones, who left the court to pursue other opportunities.
“I have a vast amount of experience working in various courts in Summit County,” Hill said.
“I bring a unique legal and life experience to this position,” Towell said.
This is one of the six contested Summit County judicial races — and the only one that wasn’t expected — on the Nov. 8 ballot.
More:Battle of the judges: All five local Summit County judicial races contested this year
The other judicial races include one more for a seat in Common Pleas Court, one for a Domestic Relations Court spot and three for the 9th District Court of Appeals, a court based in Akron that serves Summit, Medina, Lorain and Wayne counties.
All of the candidates for Common Pleas court are women, which means that all 10 Common Pleas Court seats will continue to be held by women. Only two men are running for the six contested seats, which guarantees that women will still greatly outnumber men on the Summit County bench.
More:Women rule in local courts, hold majority of elected judgeships in county
Here’s more on the race for the open Common Pleas Court seat and a peek at Summit County’s other battles for the bench.
Common Pleas Court: Hill vs. Towell
Jones' decision to step down from the Summit County bench in July sent the two county parties scrambling to find a candidate for a race they hadn’t anticipated before a deadline that was fast approaching.
Both parties selected attorneys with more than 18 years of experience who haven’t been judges but have served as magistrates.
More:Summit GOP chooses magistrate and former prosecutor Elisa Hill to run for open judge seat
Hill, 50, a Republican, has been a domestic court magistrate for five years. Towell, 47, a Democrat, has served in this role in Akron court for three years.
Prior to being a magistrate, Hill was an assistant city prosecutor for 18 years. This included overseeing domestic violence cases, handling jury and bench trials, making bond recommendations in felony cases and serving as the police legal adviser for Akron and other law enforcement agencies, which involves deciding on appropriate charges.
More:Two magistrates to battle for open Summit judge seat in November election
As a JAG officer, Towell represented sailors and marines in cases ranging from distributing narcotics to sexual assault and murder and oversaw cases and trials all over the East Coast. She also provided legal counsel to the family members of service men and women who were killed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Hill thinks the biggest challenge facing the criminal justice system is improving trust between the court system, police and the community. She said she would address this by working closely with local agencies.
“It is important to collaborate, remain involved in the community and keep an open dialog,” said Hill, who is the wife of a retired Akron police officer and the mother of twin boys.
Towell sees the justice system’s primary challenges as the impact on minority communities, the drug use and crime cycle and violence against women.
Her ideas for addressing these issues include giving minorities a say in how the justice system is run, having diversion and treatment programs for drug abuse, and drawing attention to gender discrimination.
If elected, Hill would like to create a diversion program for people with felony charges for failing to pay child support. She said this program would work with the offenders to find the means to become productive citizens, pay their bills and get their driver’s licenses.
More:'It's a human rights issue': Akron court program helps those with developmental disabilities
Towell helped start the Connect Court program in Akron court, which is a diversion program for people with developmental disabilities who get into criminal trouble. She’d like to replicate this program in Summit County court.
“It has been incredible to watch these men and women grow, improve their lives, be connected with safe housing, and, in some cases, become employed,” said Towell, a married mother of three children, including a son who has a developmental disability.
Common Pleas Court: Allega vs. Breaux
In the other Common Pleas Court race, Clarissa Allega is challenging Judge Alison Breaux for the seat she’s held since 2016.
Allega, a Republican, is the Clinton mayor and a defense attorney.
Breaux, a Democrat, claimed her seat by beating incumbent Judge Todd McKenney, who is now a Barberton Municipal Court judge.
Breaux created HOPE court, a program aimed at helping people with mental disabilities who run afoul of the law.
Domestic Relations Court: Hightower vs. Steinhauer
Judge Susan Steinhauer, a Republican appointed by Gov. Mike DeWine in April, will face off against Kani Hightower, a Democrat.
This is the second time Hightower, an Akron magistrate and prominent defense attorney, has run for a domestic court seat. She won the primary, then lost in the general election to Judge Katarina Cook in 2020.
Cook, a sitting domestic judge, ran for the second domestic court seat in a move that gave the GOP control of both seats in the court.
9th District: Carr vs. Voorhees
Judge Donna Carr, a Republican, will face Erica Voorhees, a Democrat.
Carr, who was first elected to the 9th district in 1998, is now the longest-serving judge in the five-member court.
Voorhees is a magistrate in Summit County Common Pleas Court.
9th District: Crowe vs. Lanzinger/ Stevenson vs. Teodosio
The candidates for the other two 9th district seats got switched around when Lynne Callahan announced last summer that she was retiring and wouldn’t seek reelection.
More:'I've been really lucky,' Judge Lynne Callahan says of her nearly 40-year career
Barberton Judge Jill Flagg Lanzinger, a Republican who had planned to face off against 9th District Judge Tom Teodosio, opted to switch to running for Callahan’s seat instead.
The Democratic members of the Summit County Board of Elections challenged this move, but Secretary of State Frank LaRose supported it.
More:Ohio elections chief rules Jill Flagg Lanzinger can run for Court of Appeals seat
That means Lanzinger will run against Amber Crowe, a Democrat and magistrate in Summit County Juvenile Court.
Teodosio, a Democrat, now faces opposition from Scot Stevenson, a Republican and the chief magistrate in Summit County Domestic Relations Court. Stevenson is also a former Summit County Common Pleas judge.
Teodosio has been on the 9th District bench since 2016, moving to the appellate court from the Common Pleas bench.
Stephanie Warsmith can be reached at swarsmith@thebeaconjournal.com, 330-996-3705 and on Twitter: @swarsmithabj.
How to learn more about Summit County's judicial races
The Beacon Journal’s voter guide: lwv.thevoterguide.org/v/akron22/.
Judicial Votes Count: https://www.judicialvotescount.org/.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Who's up for Summit judge: A look at the candidates in six races
