Zayas sits on the 1st District Court of Appeals in Hamilton County.
In November, Democrat Marilyn Zayas will be challenging incumbent Supreme Court Justice Dan Hawkins. Hawkins, a Republican, won a 2024 election for an unexpired term with 55% of the vote.
Prior to serving on the court, Hawkins was a Franklin County Common Pleas Court judge. He is running in November for a full six-year term.
Zayas previously ran in 2022 as the Democratic nominee against incumbent Republican Justice Pat DeWine. She lost with 43.69% of the vote.
She sits on the 1st District Court of Appeals in Cincinnati.
The Ohio Supreme Court currently has six Republicans to just one Democratic justice.
“I’m seeing how we are losing faith in our court because of politics, and politics has no place in our Ohio Supreme Court,” said Zayas recently.
If Zayas loses her race and incumbent Democratic Justice Jennifer Brunner is ousted by her Republican challenger, the Ohio Supreme Court will be a full 7-0 Republican court.
Hawkins, the incumbent, has remained focused on continuing the work he has done during his term on the court so far.
“I was fortunate that voters of Ohio elected me in the Supreme Court in 2024 to an unexpired term. So I’m up for reelection this year now. This will be for the full term, and I think we’ve got a great Supreme Court right now. We’re doing good things through good decisions, involving public safety and stable, predictable legal government for businesses.”
Hawkins also spoke at a recent event about the importance of voter participation in judicial elections.
“When you have a race for governor and for attorney general, sometimes these judicial races get lost in the shuffle, but pointing out to people that these judicial races are becoming more coordinated every year because, you know, when judges get things wrong, public safety is affected. Rule laws are passed by our General Assembly and can be unconstitutional. They have a very big impact on our system of government,” Hawkins said.
The Ohio Supreme Court weighs in on major issues including election law and challenges involving voter-approved constitutional amendments.
