Seven candidates for three seats on 5th District Court of Appeals, in all-GOP affair

Democrats, you're benched.

You can watch, cheer or boo. But you won't vote in the primary elections to decide who fills three seats on the Ohio 5th District Court of Appeals next year.

No one filed to run as a Democrat. So, it's an all-Republican affair, though with a slight twist, in an election that concludes with in-person voting on March 19.

Seven candidates are fighting for the seats in three separate GOP races. With no Democrats destined for November's general election ballot, the only competition the trio of primary winners could face in the fall would be from a write-in or independent.

The 5th District ― one of a dozen such appeal courts in Ohio ― covers 15 counties: Stark, Ashland, Coshocton, Delaware, Fairfield, Guernsey, Holmes, Knox, Licking, Morgan, Morrow, Muskingum, Perry, Richland and Tuscarawas.

It's home to six judges, each elected to a six-year term. They sit in three-judge panels, spending most of their time analyzing, then ruling if an error was made in a case heard by judges from lower-level courts, such as common pleas or municipal.

Who's running for judge in Ohio's 5th District Court of Appeals?

The three races pit:

• Sitting 5th District Judge Patricia Delaney against Delaware County Common Pleas Judge David Gormley. Delaney seeks her fourth straight election win. This is her first bid as a Republican — she'd always run as a Democrat before.

• Stark County Probate Judge Dixie Park against Kevin Popham, an attorney from Powell, in Delaware County.

• Aletha Carver, a Hills and Dales Village councilwoman and mediation attorney for the 5th District Court, in a three-way battle with political veteran Robert Montgomery of Blue Rock, in Muskingum County, and newcomer Jeff Furr, a longtime attorney from Utica, in Knox County.

Appeals court judges in Ohio will be paid a salary of $178,108 next year.

These three 5th District seats are especially attractive to candidates this year for two reasons.

Judges Scott Gwin and John Wise will retire after 36 and 30 years on the court, respectively, so there's no incumbent in two races. The Park-Popham winner would fill Gwin's spot, while the Carver-Montgomery-Furr victor is in line to replace Wise.

Then, there's Delaney's seat.

Normally, it's difficult to take out an incumbent judge. But beginning in 2022, a change in state law made appeals court elections fully partisan — for the first time, candidates in November had a 'D' or 'R' next to their name on the ballot.

That's an advantage for Republicans in the decidely GOP makeup of the 5th District.

Patricia Delaney vs. David Gormley for 5th District Court of Appeals

As far as party leaders in Licking and Delaware counties, for example, are concerned, Gormley is the only Republican in this race. They don't buy Delaney's Democrat-to-GOP switch in the 11th hour, though she did fill out required paperwork to legally run.

"I am a Republican," Delaney said.

Flat-out. Period. End of story, right?

Hardly.

During the campaign, party officials in that part of the district have called her a flip-flopper. They've loudly pointed to Delaney's long voting history as a Democrat and the fact she's technically a registered Democrat under Ohio law.

Delaney, in turn, retained Schulman, Roth & Associates, a Canton law firm, to fight back.

On Feb. 1, Stacie Roth sent a letter to the Licking County Republican Party, telling them to stop publishing "blatantly false" information that Delaney is a Democrat.

Licking County GOP Chairman Matt Dole fired back with a letter the next day, telling Roth that Delaney is a Democrat. He added that they had no intention of taking down a website (DemocratDelaney.com) dedicated to the claim.

"This is not an instance where Ms. Delaney can magically turn herself into a Republican by twitching her nose (citation: TV's Bewitched)," Dole wrote. "Or, to cite a more recent pop culture example: just as Michael Scott from TV's The Office couldn't declare bankruptcy by loudly yelling 'I declare bankruptcy,' neither does Ms. Delaney legally become an Ohio Republican voter just because she says so. Suggesting othwerwise is, however, sitcom-level funny."

The 58-year-old Gormley was a class valedictorian at Barberton High in 1983. Post-law school, he's embarked on a career that's included stints as a Delaware municipal judge, then Delaware County common pleas judge since 2015.

"I have a good set of skills for this position," Gormley said. "I think I bring a valuable perspective ... as a trial court judge, you're very aware of what's going on in your community."

Delaney, 59, said it's crucial the 5th District Court keep her, especially with Gwin and Wise leaving.

"It was in the best interest to file as a Republican ... to keep that experience," she said.

A Cleveland native, she and her husband, Patrick, have four grown children and live in Delaware County.

Delaney previously won appeals court elections in 2006, 2012 and 2018. She's presiding judge in the 5th District and is secretary of the Ohio Court of Appeals Judges Association.

"I love my job," she said.

5th District Court of Appeals: Dixie Park vs. Kevin Popham

Fifty-nine-year-old Park and her husband, Dr. John Park, have three adult children.

She's in her 24th year as Stark County probate judge.

"But I've always been interested in [the appeals court]," she said, adding that she enjoys the reading and legal research that go hand-in-hand with the post.

During her time in Stark's probate court, Park overhauled the county's guardianship system ― cases in which decision-makers can be appointed to oversee financial, medical and daily living decisions for 1,800 physically and/or mentally incompetent wards.

To that end, Park reinstituted a Court Angel program; helped create Guardian Support Services; started the Guardian Oversight Council; and convened the Stark Multidisciplinary Advocacy/Protective Resources (SMART) team.

And she's advocated for and participated in a variety of panels and groups dedicated to elder abuse, improving guardianships and adult protective services.

"I feel like I've done everything I possibly can," she said.

Her opponent, 61-year-old Kevin Popham, is after his first seat on any bench. A senior trial attorney for Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co., he said he's ready.

"It's personal to me," he said.

A married father of four grown children, Popham said his fascination with being a judge began in 1983 when his father, a Fairfield County Sohio gas station operator in Fairfield County, was murdered.

"I had to testify as a witness," he recalled.

Popham hated the defense attorney. He loved the prosecutor. And he admired the judge.

"Being a judge is about justice, fairness, impartiality and compassion," Popham said. "I have the experience ... the breadth of knowledge to be a judge."

Popham said the yearlong campaign has taken him to all 15 county fairs and nearly 150 events.

Three-way judicial race: Aletha Carver vs. Robert Montgomery vs. Jeff Furr

Each of the three candidates in this race has a different background ― which each said makes them the best choice.

Carver is a mediation attorney in the 5th District and previously spent a dozen years as a staff attorney for Judge Wise; Montgomery is a former Franklin County recorder and probate judge; and Furr worked his way through life, college and later law school, before becoming an attorney at age 33, which armed him, he said, with real-life experience.

"I've kind of set up my career for this ... this is the area, appellate law, I like," explained the 57-year-old Carver.

She's spent a good chunk of her career working in the 5th District − the last four years as a mediation attorney, along with the prior dozen years as a staff attorney for Wise. Sandwiched between, she was a Stark County Probate Court magistrate and private practice attorney at Krugliak, Wilkins, Griffiths & Dougherty.

Carver said she has a bookworm mentality and enjoys the solitude an appeals court judge often must embrace.

"I have the experience that matters," she said, adding that she's the only candidate certified as an appellate law specialist by the Ohio State Bar Association.

Montgomery said his experience as a probate judge in Franklin County from 2011 until 2021 matters more. Throw in a farm boy background, combined with private business and three terms as a county recorder, and he said he's the most well-rounded in the field.

"I was really surprised there was no one else [in the race] that had prior judicial experience," said the 57-year-old, who has lots of family living in Stark County.

He said there's no substitute for having been a judge.

"I believe in working your way up," Montgomery said.

The priority of an appeals court judge, he explained, is to "get it right," because it's often the court of last resort. Although the Ohio Supreme Court is a step higher, that court is under no obligation to hear cases adjudicated in an appeals court.

Furr, a 30-year attorney, father of six children and grandfather of five, said the appeals court "is the best court for me."

The 63-year-old ran for a seat on the 5th District two years ago. He lost in the primary to Andrew King, who went on to topple incumbent Earle Wise in the fall.

"I've been to all 15 county fairs," said Furr, who was a computer programmer for a decade before he decided to go to law school to become an attorney.

His private practice is focused on patent law.

"I'm the every man who worked hard, worked his way through college and law school," Furr explained. "It was about family and putting food on the table."

Reach Tim at 330-580-8333 or tim.botos@cantonrep.com.On X: @tbotosREP

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Ohio 5th District Court of Appeals judge primary has 7 Republicans