Batchelor returned to bench over Drown in contentious race
COSHOCTON – In one of the most contentious local political races in recent memory, Coshocton County voters stuck with the established candidate for judge of Coshocton County Common Pleas Court in Tuesday’s primary, according to unofficial vote totals from the Coshocton County Board of Elections.
Incumbent Robert Batchelor received 3,774 votes for the Republican nomination for judge of the court to 2,069 votes for local attorney William Todd Drown, a difference of 1,705 votes.
Batchelor admitted it was a long primary season and he had to respond to an aggressive campaign from his challenger with a myriad of print and radio ads.
“The whole plan was to follow the code of judicial conduct throughout the race and stay in my lane and stick with the game plan,” Batchelor said. “At the end of the day, we were putting our stake in me having 11 years of a record people would recognize when they went to the polls.”
Batchelor said for his coming term in office he’d like to create a reentry program for those being released from prison to assure they don’t go back to prison and become productive members of society.
“We always want to get better at what we do and we will continue to try and improve everyday on everything the court does, from front door security to the decisions I make on the bench,” Batchelor said.
Batchelor first won the bench in 2010 over Drown, who ran as a Democrat. Drown ran as a Democrat and lost a bid for judge of Coshocton County Juvenile and Probate Court in 2012 against Van Blanchard II.
Drown was indicted April 15 with felony charges of robbery, tampering with evidence and theft in office from an incident in May 2021. He entered not guilty pleas to the charges on Friday. Drown said the matter relates to him disposing of junk tires on a nuisance property in the Village of Conesville, where he serves as solicitor.
Conesville Council recently put out an official statement backing Drown, saying they believe he acted in good faith based on village ordinances and tasks assigned him. It also said he was the first solicitor in decades to attempt cleanup of nuisance properties.
Drown has called the case bogus and a direct attack on him by Republican elites in the county. The Coshocton County Republican Party sponsored a website calling Drown a failed businessman, politician and lawyer. The party endorsed Batchelor.
Drown has sent two letters to the Ohio Attorney General’s Office asking for a political corruption investigation into Batchelor and Coshocton County Prosecutor Jason Given. Drown accuses both of orchestrating the criminal case against him behind the scenes. Batchelor has recused himself from the case and retired Judge Daniel Hogan of Franklin County is handling it. Clifford Murphy of Licking County has been named special prosecutor.
Drown also sent a letter to the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office asking for independent observers for the primary, stating he didn’t believe Republican members of the board of elections would conduct matters properly. The Secretary of State’s Office pointed Drown to a section in the elections officials manual on acquiring his own observers.
Drown said he didn’t plan to challenge the election results as he still believes in the system, even if he doesn’t like some of the people counting the votes. He also feels the truth will come out related to the criminal case against him.
“Obviously, the sham indictment did some damage to us and I think in the end, that will prove to be shameful and ridiculous,” Drown said.
Drown in his ads objected to the plea bargaining process and pointed out several cases where defendants received less than the maximum, including for sex crimes and drug trafficking.
“It doesn’t change the fact that we still need to see some change at the court of common pleas in sentencing and in lots of areas,” Drown said of his loss. “We’re going to continue to be critical of the court’s sentencing and its other policies.”
llhayhur@coshoctontribune.com.