Gov. Mike DeWine will appoint Katelyn Dickey, who won the Republican primary for a seat on the 7th District Court of Appeals, to an open spot on that bench very soon.

“We should have something in the coming days,” said Dan Tierney, DeWine’s spokesman. “Our team is finalizing when the appointment starts. Things have to be done at the Ohio Supreme Court before we can finalize the appointment. I would not be surprised if there is something by the end of the week.”

While Tierney said he couldn’t say who is getting the appointment, he acknowledged it won’t be a surprise.

Dickey of Lisbon, a Columbiana County Municipal Court judge, won the March 19 Republican primary for the seat, capturing 69.3% of the vote.

Dickey is running unopposed in the Nov. 5 election for the six-year term.

Dickey said she was in contact Wednesday with DeWine’s office “to get the ball rolling. I’m just looking forward to doing the job that so many people trusted me to do on election day. I’m excited to get there.”

Dickey said DeWine’s office gave “no indication on the timeline. They asked about wrapping things up” in Columbiana County, and she told them that is being done.

“They indicated it would be soon,” Dickey said of the appointment announcement.

Dickey is a former Columbiana County assistant prosecutor as well as a magistrate and staff attorney for the Columbiana County Common Pleas Court.

Dickey beat Mary DeGenaro of Poland, the state auditor’s chief legal counsel. DeGenaro in 2000 was the first Republican in 24 years to win a seat on the 7th District Court of Appeals and won two other six year-terms before leaving in January 2018 after John Kasich, then the governor, appointed her to an open spot on the Ohio Supreme Court. DeGenaro lost the November 2018 election for a full six-year term on the Supreme Court to Democrat Melody Stewart.

The appeals court seat has been vacant since the Jan. 1 resignation of David D’Apolito, a Democrat. D’Apolito, who was up for reelection, was hired as Canfield city manager.

When D’Apolito’s appointment to the city manager job was announced in November, there was an effort to have DeWine, a Republican, appoint his successor before the March 19 primary. But DeWine decided to wait until after the primary to make his decision.

Since D’Apolito’s resignation, the court has used a visiting judge.

The appeals court has jurisdiction over Mahoning, Columbiana, Belmont, Carroll, Harrison, Jefferson, Monroe and Noble counties. Mahoning is the most-populous county in the district with the court located in Youngstown.

When Dickey is appointed, there will be three Republicans and one Democrat on the appeals court.

The district has become more Republican in the past few years, and, with a law in place that began with the 2022 election, all appeals court and Supreme Court candidates have their party affiliation identified on the general election ballot.

In the 2022 election for an appeals court seat, Republican Mark A. Hanni, who unsuccessfully sought a number of judicial seats as a Democrat and independent, beat Democrat Gene Donofrio, a 30-year incumbent, by more than 17%. Running as a Democrat in 2012, Hanni lost by 4.4% to DeGenaro.

The court’s two other judges are Republican Carol Ann Robb, who can’t run for reelection in 2026 because of the state’s age limit for judges, and Democrat Cheryl Waite, who is not expected to seek another term on the court in 2026.

When that occurs, Hanni, who’s served for a little over a year, will be the court’s senior judge.