Ohio Supreme Court primary with 2 Democrats kicks off long campaign over court’s partisan control

Tuesday’s Democratic primary for one of three contested seats on the Ohio Supreme Court will kick off a high-stakes battle for partisan control of the court this fall.

The court, which currently has a 4-3 Republican majority, holds sway over how to implement an amendment to the state constitution protecting abortion rights that voters overwhelmingly approved last year.

Ohio is one of 33 states with supreme court races this year and among the few where voters have an opportunity to flip partisan control of the court.

To do so, Democrats must sweep all three races in November, retaining two incumbents — Justices Michael Donnelly and Melody Stewart — and winning an open seat. That will be a difficult task, given that the state Supreme Court has been under Republican control since 1986 and the former swing state’s overall politics have tacked right in recent years.

But Democrats see an opening after 57% of Ohio voters backed a reproductive rights measure last fall. They plan to draw attention to the court’s influence over the amendment’s future and see the races as a possible way to chip away at the Republican Party’s longstanding control of all three branches of government in Ohio.

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