Brunner says Ohio remains nation’s political bellwether
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STEUBENVILLE -- What happens in Ohio is an important indicator for the rest of the country, Ohio Supreme Court Justice Jennifer Brunner said Saturday.
Brunner made the comment during her presentation at the state convention of the Federated Democratic Women of Ohio, held at the Steubenville Country Club.
“Ohio is a microcosm of life across the country,” she said. “Whatever is experienced in other places in the country has happened some place in Ohio.”
Brunner was among several speakers at the convention, which brought about 70 delegates from across the state to Steubenville. She was the first Democratic woman elected to two statewide offices -- secretary of state in 2006 and state Supreme Court justice in 2020.
“Twenty years ago, in 2006, when I was running statewide for the first time, we were starting to become concerned about the economy in Ohio. The rest of the country was concerned about the war in Iraq. I’m telling you, we are at the tip of the spear,” she said.
“What we do, the rest of the country will catch up to, and Ohio is waking up,” Brunner added. “Ohio’s the way to do it, because our people need good people in government who are focused on public service, who understand that to be a public servant means simply to serve. And, to serve means that we do whatever we can possibly do to better the lives of the people in our state, with the hope and the faith that doing that creates the ripples that other people are talking about.”
Brunner is running for re-election in the Nov. 3 election against Republican Colleen O’Donnell. A Columbus resident, Brunner has served as a Franklin County Common Pleas Court judge for nearly five years and as a judge on the state’s 10th District Court of Appeals for six years before being elected to the state Supreme Court.
Of the seven members of the Ohio Supreme Court, four are women, and Brunner is the only Democrat.
“If my voice was not on the Ohio Supreme Court, there are voices that would be completely lost,” she said. “And even though I write a lot of dissents, those do have an impact on the future. When you think about the law, there’s more than one way to climb the mountain, especially if it’s case law. And case law basically says that if we can’t figure out in plain name what it means, we’re going to try to help people understand how it can be applied fairly, justly or if it’s unconstitutional.”
While she does not always share the views of her colleagues, Brunner said she gets along with them.
Brunner also discussed several other topics while taking questions from convention delegates.
She said Ohio’s current age restrictions, which prevent a judge from taking office if they will turn 70 before the term begins, are appropriate. That differs from justices on the U.S. Supreme Court, she said.
“Those are lifetime appointments, and that would take a change,” she said. “I don’t know -- we wanted to hold onto Ruth Bader Ginsburg as long as we could. That’s in another realm, and I think Congress has to deal with that. But in Ohio, where we are right now, I think that age limits are OK.”
“The age limits can create some bizarre behavior sometimes in Ohio,” she added. “But, I’m not going to complain about it because, you know, my longtime political consultant said, ‘Jennifer, I always thought you could run for governor and you’d be a great governor, but I realized that now that you’re on the Supreme Court, you’re getting more work done than in any other position you could be in.'”
“And, honestly, when I write a dissent, I can say whatever I want,” she continued. “But, when I do, it’s always politely, because I want to keep the dignity of the court, and I don’t want to offend my colleagues, but sometimes, you know how it is, you can be so direct that you scare the heck out of them, and I’m not even raising my voice to do it.”
Brunner also addressed safety concerns involving members of the judiciary after U.S. Supreme Court justices Amy Coney Barrett, appointed by President Donald Trump, and Elena Kagan, appointed by President Barack Obama, appeared before Congress to discuss increased security for judges.
“I will tell you, when I was secretary of state and administering the first Obama election, I had no friends, and we were being pummeled with all kinds of calls, and it was a pretty bad time,” Brunner said. “I ended up having to be guarded by the State Highway Patrol for seven weeks straight, 24 hours a day.”
“My mom’s more concerned than I am, and my mom’s 91,” Brunner continued. “They have very good security at the court, and I have a 120-pound dog. I’m good.”
Brunner said she never supported voter ID legislation. She said she believes additional regulations create barriers to participation.
“Nothing makes me happier than when we have a record voter turnout,” Brunner said. “And then, who cares what the results of the election are? If you have enough people voting, it better reflects us as a democracy.”
Other convention speakers included Connie Schultz, wife of U.S. Senate candidate Sherrod Brown; Annette Blackwell, who is running for state auditor against Republican Frank LaRose and Libertarian Aidan Jeffrey; and Charrie Foglio, who is running for a seat in the state House of Representatives against incumbent Republican Ron Ferguson.
The Jefferson County Federated Democratic Women hosted the event, which was the 95th annual convention of the state organization.