Doneghy, Cook lead Common Pleas contests
11/8/2006Democratic candidate Stacy Cook and incumbent Judge Charles Doneghy were winning election last night for seats on Lucas County Common Pleas Court.
Ms. Cook and Judge Doneghy, also a Democrat, were ahead of their opponents in races for six-year terms on the court's general division, according to early unofficial results available from the Lucas County Board of Elections.
Meanwhile, the race for a vacancy on the Common Pleas bench between James Nusbaum and Linda Jennings was too close to predict a winner.
Lucas County Common Pleas Judge Thomas Osowik, a Democrat, was facing Dennis Parish to fill a vacancy on the eight-county Ohio 6th District Court of Appeals.
With final unofficial results from Williams, Wood, Henry, Erie, and Sandusky counties; no results from Fulton and Ottawa counties, and only 95 of the 495 precincts counted in Lucas County, Judge Osowik was ahead of Judge Parish, who was appointed to the court in 2005 to succeed Judith Lanzinger, who had been elected to the Ohio Supreme Court.
A Perrysburg Republican, Judge Parish was a former senior magistrate in Lucas County Juvenile Court and was also employed as a magistrate in Wood County juvenile and probate courts.
Judge Osowik, of Toledo, was elected to Common Pleas Court in 2004 and previously was on the bench in Toledo Municipal Court.
Judge Peter Handwork, a Republican, was running unopposed to retain his seat on the appellate court.
The appellate court hears lower court issues from the eight counties. The judges are paid $126,250 a year.
Ms. Cook, a lawyer in private practice and an acting judge in Maumee Municipal Court, defeated Michael Goulding to fill a vacancy on the court.
Both candidates are University of Toledo law school graduates.
Mr. Goulding, a Republican, is a partner in the Toledo law firm of Shindler, Neff, Holmes, Schlageter & Mohler.
Ms. Cook is married to Lucas County Common Pleas Court Judge Gary Cook, who also was on the ballot but was running unopposed.
Mr. Nusbaum, a Democrat who is a member of the Sylvania Board of Education, was challenging Linda Jennings in the election to replace Judge Charles Wittenberg, who is retiring at the end of the year.
Ms. Jennings, a Republican, was appointed to a vacancy in the court in May by Gov. Bob Taft, but was running for another vacancy in Common Pleas Court.
Attorney Mark Davis was losing to Judge Doneghy, who was appointed to the Common Pleas bench in 1984 after serving seven years as a judge in Toledo Municipal Court.
Mr. Davis, a lawyer for seven years who maintains a private practice in Toledo, is a Democrat but was on the ballot as an independent candidate.
Also running unopposed to retain their seats were Common Pleas Judge James Bates, Lucas County Domestic Relations Court Judge David Lewandowski, and Lucas County Juvenile Court Judge James Ray.
Common Pleas judges, including those in Domestic Relations and Juvenile Court, receive an annual salary of $116,100.
Contact Mark Reiter at:
markreiter@theblade.com
or 419-213-2134.