The early retirement of Judge Peter J. Kontos will allow a Republican to sit on the Trumbull County Common Pleas Court bench for the first time in years — though it could be short-lived.

The county Republican Party is moving swiftly to have Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, appoint a replacement for Kontos, a Democrat.

Kontos’ retirement, announced July 19, is effective Sunday.

Robert Carr, the Trumbull Republican Party’s interim chairman, said he will have the names of three finalists to the governor by Tuesday.

The vetting process by DeWine’s office usually takes at least a month and sometimes longer. The appointment will likely come as soon as possible because of political considerations as the Nov. 8 election isn’t far off.

Republicans want whoever is selected to be a judge for as long as possible to build credibility for the election.

The winner of the race between DeWine’s appointment — who also will be the Republican nominee — and the person chosen by the county Democratic Party will start serving after the election results are certified. The winner will complete Kontos’ term, which ends Dec. 31, 2026.

Three Republican candidates already have come forward, Carr said.

Sarah Thomas Kovoor of Howland and Liberty Township Trustee Devon Stanley have run for elected office before. The third, Margo S. Meola of Warren, is a political newcomer.

Kovoor came close in two other judicial races: losing by 1 percent in 2018 for Trumbull County Domestic Juvenile Court judge and by 2 percent in 2020 for a seat on the 11th District Court of Appeals to Democrat Cynthia Westcott Rice.

She fared worse in the May 3 Republican primary for a different seat on the appeals court, losing by 9.2 percent to incumbent John Eklund.

Stanley unsuccessfully ran as the Republican nominee in blowout defeats in 2014 and 2016 for an Ohio House seat. He was elected as a Liberty trustee in 2019.

DeWine’s office wants no more than three candidates from the local party so if this stays as is, Carr said he will interview the trio and then forward their names.

David Engler of Weathersfield said last week he was interested in the seat, but hadn’t contacted Carr.

The recommendations from the county Republican Party are just that — recommendations.

Engler, who failed in efforts to get elected to a seat on the 7th District Court of Appeals and for Mahoning County Probate Court judge, might skip the county Republican process and go straight to DeWine’s office.

It wouldn’t be the first time that’s happened.

Eklund didn’t apply for the appeals court seat he holds until about a month after the deadline. But DeWine chose the former state senator for the position over six people who applied for the vacancy, including Kovoor.

The county Democratic Party’s central committee is to meet Aug. 9 to select its candidate for the judicial seat.

Rice, who has spent nearly 20 years on the appeals court bench, is the only Democratic candidate to declare for the nomination so far. That likely won’t change.

Rice, of Brookfield, is as strong of a judicial candidate as Democrats can find and any potential challengers probably realize that.

She’s won four elections to the 11th District Court of Appeals, which handles cases in Trumbull, Ashtabula, Geauga, Lake and Portage counties, and is a former federal prosecutor and assistant county prosecutor.

If Rice stayed on the appeals bench, she wouldn’t have to run again until 2026.

She told me she was going to seek Kontos’ seat that year as he is unable to do so because of the state’s age limit on judges.

With Kontos’ early retirement, Rice’s plans moved up.

That age law, which prohibits anyone from vying for a judicial seat if the term starts when that person is at least 70 years old, also forced Common Pleas Judge W. Wyatt McKay to not run this year.

Other judges in the county who will have to retire because of the law include Common Pleas Court Judge Andrew Logan in 2024, Domestic Juvenile Court Judge Sandra Stabile Harwood in 2024 and Probate Court Judge James A. Fredricka in 2026.

All of them, including Kontos and McKay, are Democrats.

Skolnick covers politics for The Vindicator and the Tribune Chronicle.

dskolnick@vindy.com