Local Judicial Races Matter! 2025 Municipal Court Races: Why Voters Should Care

What do traffic tickets, small claims, and landlord-tenant disputes have in common? They are all decided in municipal court - small courts with a big impact. On Election Day, November 4, 2025, voters in 38 Ohio counties will elect municipal court judges. 

Why It Matters

No matter on what level of court they serve, all judges make decisions that affect your everyday life along with the lives of your families and communities. Judges are called upon to consider the specific facts of the cases and rule without regard for partisan affiliation. 

Voters need to know whether a candidate for judge will be fair, impartial, and independent. Unfortunately, information about the role of courts, judicial elections, and candidates can be difficult to find.

Here, we break down the role of municipal courts, how judicial elections work in Ohio, and where to find that elusive information about the candidates running for a seat on the court so you can make a more informed decision when casting your vote. 

What is a Municipal Court?

Municipal court judges preside over traffic cases, misdemeanor criminal cases, and civil cases where the amount at issue is $15,000 or less. Some courts have specialized dockets and programs that are intended to address problems that the community is facing in a thoughtful way. For example, the Cleveland Municipal Court has a veterans treatment docket. 

Candidate Qualifications & Judicial Elections

Candidates can serve on Ohio courts if they are a licensed attorney with at least six years of experience practicing law in Ohio. All Ohio judges serve six-year terms. The terms for judicial seats are staggered, so judges are not all elected at the same time and not all counties have judicial elections each year. In Ohio, some ballots show a candidate's partisan affiliation, while others do not. Primary elections for municipal courts are partisan but general elections are not. 

Why It’s Challenging to Get to Know Judicial Candidates 

Many people skip voting for judges. Unfortunately, information about judicial candidates can be hard to find – there is currently no “one-stop-shop” resource. These candidates are different from other candidates. Judicial candidates and judges aren’t supposed to talk about their positions on issues that may come before them. And judicial decisions—especially at the local level—don’t get much attention from the media. Plus, some judges circumvent accountability by avoiding community discussions, refusing to provide information for voter guides, or opting out of forums. 

Finding & Evaluating Judicial Candidates 

For any election, voters can find the names of candidates running for judicial office before voting by accessing a sample ballot from their local board of elections website or the Secretary of State’s website. See example of a 2025 sample ballot here. Other handy resources to find judicial candidates running in your area include BallotReady and the League of Women Voters site VOTE411.

Then, do a simple Google search about the candidates on your sample ballot. This is a quick and easy way for voters to get judicial candidate information. The same goes for social media searches and exploring candidates’ websites. Additionally, those searches often lead to the resources listed below that can help voters evaluate judicial candidates.

Below are some helpful ways to evaluate judicial candidates so you feel confident when casting your ballot.

• Candidate Questionnaires 

Entities such as bar associations and newspapers often ask judicial candidates to fill out questionnaires about things such as their education, endorsements, affiliations, and work experience. 

Signal Cleveland has an excellent voter guide with answers from Cleveland Municipal Court judicial candidates. The Dayton Daily News also has a terrific voter guide with answers directly from candidates who will be on November’s ballot in Montgomery, Clark, Butler, Warren, Greene and Miami counties. In addition, VOTE411 has a helpful “Meet the candidates” section, including those running for Municipal Court.

• Bar Association Ratings

Bar association ratings can be used to gauge prospective judges’ ability to perform their job. For example, the Cincinnati Bar Association sends a confidential, nonpartisan judicial survey about the candidates’ integrity/impartiality/objectivity and other characteristics of a strong judge to all active attorney members. See the 2025 survey results for the eight Hamilton County Municipal Court candidates here. 

Other bar associations also rate judicial candidates. The Akron Bar Association Commission on Judicial Candidates has ratings for Akron, Barberton, and Stow municipal court candidates. 

• Endorsements

Organizational and personal endorsements can provide clues about candidates. While we should be careful judging candidates by their friends, it can be useful to see who supports them. Many times, candidates will display their endorsements on their campaign websites and social media. Local newspapers also endorse candidates like this editorial from the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

• Judicial Forums & Debates

Judicial forums are an excellent way for voters to get to know judicial candidates better. While judicial candidates can’t answer questions on how they plan to rule on any given issue, there are plenty of other questions they can answer, such as their judicial philosophy, ethical dilemmas, and recusal. Here are some questions that the candidates are free to answer.

• Who’s Contributed to Their Campaign

Did you know that in Ohio, judges can hear cases of their campaign contributors with no requirement to recuse themselves? This creates the potential for serious conflicts of interest that should be of great public concern. You can find information on a candidate's campaign contributions here. 

• Who’s Paying for the Ads

Who’s paying for the ad equals an endorsement. Check the “paid for by” disclaimer included on political advertisements. This will tell you whether the ad is paid for by the candidate, a political party, or an organization.

Insights you gather from all these sources can give you the information you need to decide which judicial candidates to vote for before you go to the polls.

When judges hold so much power over our daily lives, taking the time to make the right choice is an important and worthwhile effort. 

Key Voting Information

November 4 is Election Day and polls are open 6:30 am - 7:30 pm. Use voteohio.gov to find your early in-person voting location, request an absentee ballot (by Oct. 28), or track your ballot. If you plan to vote in person, you must have an unexpired photo ID. 

Local judicial elections matter! Judges decide the rules closest to home. Electing judges gives us power to shape justice where we live for ourselves, our communities, and our shared future. Educate yourself and research judicial candidates so that you can make an informed decision when you cast your ballot. Encourage your family, friends, and neighbors to do the same and share this information with them.