Two on Nasty Judicial Election in Ohio

Columbus Dispatch: “An Ohio State Bar Association committee claims Democrat John P. O’Donnell has crossed the line with a TV commercial attack on his opponent, Republican Justice Judith L. French. O’Donnell’s first TV ad attempts to link French’s acceptance of campaign donations from American Electric Power executives with her decision in favor of the utility in a rate case. The TV commercial French pops out of the pockets of utility executives accompanied by wads of cash.”

Another from the Dispatch: “An Ohio Supreme Court justice says she was talking judicial philosophy — not politics — when she addressed a Republican crowd about the court serving as a ‘backstop’ for decisions made by GOP officeholders….At a Saturday event at which she introduced Republican Gov. John Kasich, French said, ‘I am a Republican and you should vote for me. You’re going to hear from your elected officials, and I see a lot of them in the crowd. Let me tell you something: The Ohio Supreme Court is the backstop for all those other votes you are going to cast. Whatever the governor does, whatever your state representative, your state senator does, whatever they do, we are the ones that will decide whether it is constitutional; we decide whether it’s lawful. We decide what it means, and we decide how to implement it in a given case. So, forget all those other votes if you don’t keep the Ohio Supreme Court conservative,’ French said.”

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