YOUNGSTOWN — Attorney and Western Reserve Joint Fire District Chief David “Chip” Comstock Jr. and current appeals court judge Mark Hanni are running in the May 5 Republican primary to replace Democrat Judge Cheryl Waite on the 7th District Court of Appeals.

Hanni, who won his current seat on the 7th District Court of Appeals in 2022, cannot seek reelection in 2028 to his current seat because of age restrictions. Instead, he ran for a different seat on the 7th District Court of Appeals, the one held by Waite, which would be for six more years.

If he wins, he gets four more years on the 7th District Court of Appeals than if he had stayed in his current seat. If he loses, he keeps his current position that expires in 2028.

The 7th District Court is one of 12 appeals courts in the state. They hear appeals from the common pleas, municipal and county courts and have jurisdiction over other requests for issues such as habeas corpus and mandamus actions.

The 7th District hears cases involving Mahoning and seven southeastern Ohio counties — Belmont, Carroll, Columbiana, Harrison, Jefferson, Monroe and Noble.

COMSTOCK

Comstock, of Poland, who has been the Western Reserve Fire District chief since June 1, 1992, also has worked for the Bonezzi Switzer Polito and Perry law firm since Jan, 1, 2016, and was with Comstock, Springer & Wilson from 1988 to 2015.

He earned his law degree from The Ohio State University after graduating with a bachelor’s degree from the College of Wooster in 1985.

Comstock stated in materials provided for this election that his goal as appeals court judge is to restore “public trust in the independence and integrity of the court as an equal but separate third branch of government under the United States and Ohio constitutions.”

He stated, “Judges must not only judge, but support the public understanding of the judicial system, to be open and accessible to the public and to do everything in their power to uphold the integrity of the judicial system.

“Recent polls demonstrate that public opinion of the United States Supreme Court remains at historic lows with job approval around 40 to 42%, and roughly half of Americans viewing the court unfavorably.”

He added that only 40% of Americans believe that U.S. Supreme Court justices “can set aside personal/political beliefs to rule based on the law. Unfortunately, this opinion spills into other courts as well. The public’s view of the court system is often through the media’s portrayal of judges. Without education, our citizens believe what they see on entertainment TV.”

Comstock highlighted the effort of the Cleveland Metro Bar Association in 2006 to create the 3Rs — rights, responsibilities and realities — program in partnership with Cleveland area school districts.

He stated that the goal of the 3Rs is to “improve the understanding of and respect for the rule of law, the U.S. Constitution and the community; improve passage rates of Ohio school end-of-year testing” and other issues. He stated that the 7th District Court of Appeals, in cooperation with local bar associations, can take lessons from the Cleveland area “to achieve similar goals.”

He suggested that 7th District Court of Appeals hearings take place in the county where the cases arise and that they take place in high schools “to expose students to the judicial process.” And he suggested that after-hour tours be provided of the appeals courthouse and consider holding its hearings on weekends or evenings and “speak to young people and spark an interest in them to become attorneys.”

He also suggested that basic qualifications to be a judge should be increased to “include a greater number of years of service, a requirement of proven trial and appellate experience and testing to determine whether the candidate has the appropriate knowledge to serve as a judicial candidate.”

He said attention should be paid to the legal needs of rural Ohio to eliminate “legal deserts,” where not enough attorneys are available to meet the need. With an aging population, attorneys are retiring at a higher rate than new attorneys are coming into the practice. “This problem is significant in rural areas of the state, including seven of the eight counties that make up the Seventh District Court of Appeals,” he said.

HANNI

Hanni earned his law degree from Duquesne University after starting law school at age 36 and earning a bachelor’s degree from Youngstown State University. Before law school, he worked for the Mahoning County Board of Elections for more than 16 years, serving as deputy director for 10 years.

He defeated incumbent 7th District Court of Appeals Judge Gene Donofrio in the general election of 2022. Hanni is the son of former longtime Mahoning County Democratic Party Chairman Don Hanni Jr. Mark Hanni has said he became a Republican in 2016.

He said in campaign materials he drew inspiration from his father, who he believes was the best attorney in Ohio. Mark Hanni is married to Dawn Zinni-Hanni, Trumbull County recorder.

As a general practitioner for over two decades, he has represented over 6,000 clients, “from car accidents to wrongful termination,” he said. He also handled criminal defense cases.

As an appeals court judge since February 2023, he has participated in rulings for more than 600 cases, “and has never been reversed,” he said. He learned in 2023 that the 7th District Court of Appeals had ranked last among the 12 appeals courts in the state “in performance and efficiency by the Ohio Supreme Court.”

He found it unacceptable that every third month the court did not have hearings and identified it as a “writing month,” making it the only appeals court in the state where this occurred, he said. He also found that the 7th District judges’ staff worked from home two or more days per week.

In 2024, he set a new policy, requiring his staff to work from the 7th District Courthouse in downtown Youngstown and “initiated transformative reforms by eliminating ‘writing months,'” he said. The changes “fostered greater accountability and efficiency, propelling the court from last place to first place in statewide rankings in 2025,” he said.

His campaign materials called his religious faith the “foundation and guiding force of his life, shaping both who he is and how he serves others. For over 30 years he has faithfully attended daily Catholic Mass.”

He is pro-life, pro-family, pro-Christian values, Constitutionalist, pro-Second Amendment, pro-police funding, pro-border patrol and and pro-parental rights in education,” his questionnaire states.

DEMOCRAT WRITE-IN

Katherine Rudzik of Poland, the Mahoning County Clerk of Courts’ chief deputy clerk, who is a registered Republican, filed in February to run as a write-in candidate in the Democrat primary for the 7th District Court of Appeals seat held by Waite.

There will be a blank line on the Democratic primary ballot for people to write in Rudzik’s name. Only votes for those who file as write-in candidates are counted. As the only Democratic candidate for the appeals seat, Rudzik’s name will appear on the Nov. 3 general election ballot.