YOUNGSTOWN — Several judicial seats are up for grabs in November at the county and state level.

Those include two Mahoning County Common Pleas Court seats, Mahoning County’s Domestic Relations Court, and a seat on Ohio’s 7th District Court of Appeals in Youngstown.

The latter arguably was the most hotly contested and now a winner has been determined.

Mark Hanni will serve another six years on the 7th District Court of Appeals instead of ending his career in 2028.

According to unofficial results from the Ohio Secretary of State’s website, Hanni defeated the chief of Poland’s Western Reserve Joint Fire District, David “Chip” Comstock for the appellate court seat being vacated by retiring Judge Cheryl Waite.

As of 9:30 p.m., the results showed Hanni as the presumptive winner by a margin of about 54% to 46%, in one of only three contested primaries for appellate court judges, all between Republicans.

The 7th District hears cases involving Mahoning, Belmont, Carroll, Columbiana, Harrison, Jefferson, Monroe and Noble Counties.

Hanni was elected to the 7th District in 2022, defeating Judge Gene Donofrio in a special election, but cannot seek reelection to his current seat in 2028 because of age restrictions. By running for Waite’s seat, he wins another six years, giving him four more years on the appeals court panel than if he had stayed in his current seat.

Hanni issued a news release hours before results were released.

“I feel deeply blessed to have had the opportunity to participate in this election and to stand before the people of Ohio representing my values openly and honestly,” he said. “We are living in a time of spiritual warfare. This is not just a battle between Republicans and Democrats. Increasingly, this is a battle between good and evil. The people are hungry for leaders who are willing to represent their real values publicly instead of hiding behind carefully crafted talking points and political language.”

Hanni is the son of former Mahoning County Democratic Party Chairman Don Hanni Jr. Mark Hanni has said he became a Republican in 2016.

He has been something of a lightning rod for negative press attention in recent weeks.

Hanni drew criticism for his campaign’s yard signs, which emphasize his support for President Donald Trump and appear to conflate the controversial Commander-in-Chief with the other face on the sign, Jesus Christ.

In April, Tod Latell, a former Trumbull recorder, sued Hanni; his wife, Trumbull County Recorder Dawn Zinni-Hanni; and Trumbull County in federal court over allegations of civil conspiracy, defamation, abuse of political authority or influence and internal infliction of emotional distress.

On April 11, Hanni crashed his Cadillac Escalade into a Bridgeport fast-food restaurant, causing significant damage to the building’s interior and exterior. He was not cited for the incident.

Hanni recently filed a motion requesting to intervene in a federal case by a Democratic Ohio Supreme Court justice that seeks to overturn a 2021 state law requiring party affiliation for appeals court and Ohio Supreme Court candidates.

Hanni praised his opponent as well.

“I also want to tip my hat to my opponent, Chip Comstock, who worked hard and ran an aggressive campaign. Many fraternal firemen from communities up and down the Ohio River stood up and were counted for Chip Comstock, and I respect them for it,” he said.

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

Comstock stated in his campaign materials that his goal was 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.”

Katherine Rudzik, also 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 seat. The Secretary of State’s website stated that it would not be posting results for write-in candidates on election night. As the only Democratic candidate for the appeals seat, Rudzik’s name will appear on the Nov. 3 general election ballot.

COMMON PLEAS

Judge R. Scott Krichbaum, a Republican who is also the longest-serving elected official in the county, will step down on Feb 8, 2027, because of term limits. His elected successor will assume the bench the next day for a six-year term.

Unofficial and incomplete results from the Mahoning County Board of Elections showed that Krichbaum’s magistrate, Ross T. Smith, was defeating his opponent, Edward Czopur, in the Republican primary race. As the presumptive winner by roughly 53% to 47%, Smith will face Austintown Township Administrator Mark D’Apolito, the lone Democratic candidate, in November.

Smith, 52, has served as Krichbaum’s magistrate since January. Before that, he was a magistrate and supervising attorney in the public defender’s office, He also served as an assistant prosecutor under former Mahoning County Prosecutor Paul Gains from 2006 to 2022.

Smith said he believes in maintaining an efficient courtroom, which he feels Krichbaum has run.

“One of my primary goals as judge will be to ensure that cases continue to move through the court system in a timely and organized manner while still giving every party a fair opportunity to be heard,” he said.

John Durkin is another common pleas judge who is retiring next year, and two Republicans vied for their party’s nod to seek the seat in November against Democrat and former assistant county prosecutor J. Michael Thompson.

According to unofficial and incomplete results, Ralph Rivera defeated fellow county assistant prosecutor Anissa Modarelli roughly 54% to 46%.

Modarelli, of Canfield, has worked for the prosecutor’s office since 2000, including a long stint in the juvenile court system before taking on a dedicated role prosecuting cases in Durkin’s courtroom, especially in his drug court program.

Rivera, a Campbell native, has been with the prosecutor’s office since 2007 and has served in multiple divisions, including criminal and appellate, and served as both chief and assistant chief of the criminal division.

Newton Falls Law Director Jeff Limbian and Mahoning County Assistant Prosecutor Rob Andrews, both registered Democrats, filed recently to run as independents in that race.

DOMESTIC RELATIONS

Republicans Kathleen Bartlett and Mark DeVicchio faced off to run for Mahoning County Domestic Relations judge, a seat longtime Domestic Relations Judge Beth Smith will vacate at the end of the year because of the state’s age limit for judges. Smith was the first woman elected judge in Mahoning County when she won a county area court race in 1988.

As of 9 p.m. Tuesday, unofficial results had DeVicchio winning, 58% to 42%.

As the presumptive nominee, he will face Democrat Terry Grenga in the November general election. In Ohio, common pleas court judges, including candidates for domestic relations judge, run in political partisan primaries and then without party affiliation in general elections.