Endorsed Democrat Brown ahead of Hanna for Franklin County judge in early primary results

Early, unofficial results show Ohio House Rep. Richard Brown, the endorsed Democrat, ahead of challenger Stephanie Hanna in the race for a seat on the bench in Franklin County Common Pleas Court.

With 76% of 888 precincts reporting, Brown had 55% of the vote and Hanna had 45%, according to the Franklin County Board of Elections.

This is the only contested judge seat out of nine available on Common Pleas Court in the March primary.

Brown has previously run for judge as a Democrat and Hanna has previously run for judge as a Republican before switching parties.

Check back here for updated primary results as they come in Tuesday.

Since no one is running in the Republican primary, the winner of the Democratic primary will win the judgeship in the November election.

Incumbent Judge Dan Hawkins, a Republican, did not seek reelection to his seat and is instead running for Ohio Supreme Court justice. With Hawkins' departure, there will be only one Republican left on the county Common Pleas Court out of 24 judges.

If Brown wins, this will be his first and only term as a judge. Brown is 67 years old and Ohio law prohibits judge candidates from running if they would be 70 or older when they take office.

Brown, of Canal Winchester, could have sought one more term in the Ohio House before he would have been term-limited by state law. But Brown said he wanted to run for judge while there's an opening and he still can.

Hanna, 40, of Dublin, is currently a staff attorney in Franklin County Common Pleas Court for Judge Jeffrey Brown, where she helps manage the civil docket and draft decisions.

Hanna previously ran as a Republican twice: in 2016 for the Common Pleas Court General Division and again in 2020 for the Common Pleas Court Domestic Relations and Juvenile Division.

She is part of a trend as several Franklin County judges have switched parties from Republican to Democrat in recent years as the county has become a Democratic stronghold. But those judges who successfully switched and gained election benefited from the advantages that come with being incumbents.

jlaird@dispatch.com

@LairdWrites

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Franklin County primary election results coming in county judge race