GOP wants Brunner off redistricting cases
Democrat made subject a key campaign issue
Ohio Republican Party Chairman Bob Paduchik wants Ohio Supreme Court Justice Jennifer Brunner to recuse herself from ruling on lawsuits challenging the state House and Senate maps.
It's no secret that Brunner, a Democrat, used redistricting as a key campaign issue in her successful bid to unseat Republican Justice Judith French last year.
Her campaign website made that clear: "One of the major reasons I ran for the Ohio Supreme Court in 2020 was to play a role in any challenge of Ohio's new districts in 2021 – to help keep districts drawn under the state constitution's new formulas adopted by Ohio voters in 2015 and 2018, honest and true to the voice of the people."
Paduchik says statements like that – and her connections to plaintiffs like former President Barack Obama-era Attorney General Eric Holder – disqualify
Brunner from weighing in on legal challenges to Ohio Statehouse maps.
“We take Justice Brunner at her word. Based on her actions and statements it's clear her decision on redistricting litigation is predetermined, and therefore she is subject to recusal," Paduchik said in a statement. "Ohio residents deserve an impartial constitutional review of the newly drawn legislative districts, and Justice Brunner is incapable of providing a fair opinion.”
Brunner said there was no reason to recuse herself from the cases.
The Ohio Code of Judicial Conduct requires judges to disqualify themselves from cases if they have a "personal bias or prejudice concerning a party or a party's lawyer, or personal knowledge of facts that are in dispute in the proceeding."
Holder's National Redistricting Action Fund filed one of three lawsuits challenging Ohio's House and Senate maps, and Holder held a fundraiser for Brunner during her political campaign. The Ohio Environmental Council, a plaintiff in another lawsuit, endorsed
Brunner's bid for the Ohio Supreme Court.
Democrats weren't the only ones using redistricting as a campaign talking point in 2020.
Republican operative Karl Rove wrote a fundraising letter on behalf of French's campaign. Rove wrote that "liberal interest groups from outside Ohio" want the lines drawn to benefit "liberal Democrats."
Paduchik's request comes after Ohio Supreme Court Justice Pat Dewine, a Republican, said he would not recuse himself from ruling on the maps drawn by the seven-member Ohio Redistricting Commission. His father, Gov. Mike Dewine, was on the commission and approved the maps.
Pat Dewine said he did not need to recuse himself because Mike Dewine was one of seven members and the maps don't personally affect the governor. Ohio Republican Party spokeswoman Tricia Mclaughlin says the case for recusal is different for Brunner than Dewine.
"The Democrats' argument for recusal is weak," she said. "No one knows how Justice Dewine will rule on any of the three cases; everyone paying attention knows that Jennifer Brunner will rule for the plaintiffs who raised money and endorsed her campaign."
But Ohio Democratic Party spokesman Matt Keyes disagreed, saying the only conflict of interest involves two politicians named Dewine.
"Pat Dewine should play no part in a court case involving his father, and the Ohio Republican Party knows that," Keyes said. "Which is exactly why we're seeing this desperate stunt from a party that would rather play partisan games than fight for fair representation for Ohio voters."
Brunner is running for chief justice of the court next year against Republican Justice Sharon Kennedy.
If either Brunner or Dewine recuse themselves, Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O'connor, a Republican, would pick the replacement. Any change could upset the balance of the court, which is expected to deliver a divided decision on the maps.
Jessie Balmert is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Akron Beacon Journal, Cincinnati Enquirer, Columbus Dispatch and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.