Brunner seeks retention on Ohio Supreme Court in 2026

Ohio Supreme Court Justice Jennifer Brunner is running to keep her seat in the Nov. 3, 2026, general election. The Democrat faces Republican Colleen T. O'Donnell for Ohio Supreme Court Justice (Term Commencing 1/2).

Brunner has served on the Supreme Court of Ohio since 2021, according to her Supreme Court biography. She is certified for the ballot, according to BallotReady election data.

Candidate information

Party: Democratic
Office sought: Ohio Supreme Court Justice (Term Commencing 1/2)
Birthplace: Springfield, Ohio
Education: Bachelor's degree in sociology, Miami University (1978); juris doctor, Capital University (1983)
Campaign website: justicebrunner.com

Experience and public service

Brunner has held elected and appointed positions in Ohio government and law for more than four decades, according to her Supreme Court biography.

She began her legal career as an attorney at the Ohio Secretary of State's Office from 1983 to 1987. She also served as a committee secretary and legislative aide in the Ohio Senate. She founded and ran a private law practice from 1988 to 2000.

Brunner won election as a Franklin County Common Pleas judge in 2000 and served until 2005. While on that bench, she founded the county's adult felony drug court in 2004, the TIES Program (Treatment is Essential to Success), which remains in operation, according to her Supreme Court biography.

She served as Ohio's first female secretary of state from 2007 to 2011. She oversaw the 2008 presidential election. In 2008, she received the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for her public service in that role. She is the first of two Ohioans to receive the award.

Brunner ran in the 2010 Ohio U.S. Senate Democratic primary. She served as a rule of law expert and consultant for USAID and the U.S. State Department from 2011 to 2014, and was a partner at Brunner Quinn during the same period, according to her Supreme Court biography and BallotReady data. She served as a judge on the Tenth District Ohio Court of Appeals from 2014 to 2021 before joining the Supreme Court.

She was the Democratic nominee for chief justice in 2022. She authored a memoir, "Cupcakes and Courage," in 2012. She is studying remotely at the University of York in the United Kingdom for a doctorate in sociology, with research centered on the return of artifacts looted during colonial occupations, according to Erie County Democrats.

On the issues

Brunner outlined several priorities on her campaign platform page, according to her responses submitted through BallotReady.

Criminal justice and public safety: Brunner said she wants to promote greater access to justice through technology initiatives to keep people safe and make remote participation easier. She said she supports bail reform for greater equality for Ohioans. She also said she wants to join initiatives to identify systemic racism in the criminal justice system through the creation of data on sentencing across Ohio.

Civil rights: Brunner said she wants to make it easier for transgender individuals who need safe access to accurate records such as birth certificates.