Ohio primary will set up a fall election that could flip partisan control of the state supreme court

COLUMBUS, Ohio — It’s been nearly four decades since liberal-leaning justices held a majority on Ohio’s supreme court.

Democrats hope this is the year that changes, in a campaign that will begin to take shape with Tuesday’s primary. They’ll be choosing a candidate to compete for an open seat on a court that will be at the center of fights over redistricting, public education, health care, environmental issues and criminal justice.

But it’s abortion that Democrats hope will be a game-changer in a state that has swung from centrist to reliably Republican over the past decade. The Ohio Supreme Court is expected to shape how a voter-approved constitutional amendment that enshrined reproductive rights in the state constitution will be implemented.

“I don’t think it’s an overstatement to say reproductive freedom and abortion access is at stake in this state supreme court race,” said Kellie Copeland, executive director of Pro-Choice Ohio.

It will be a consequential year for state supreme court seats around the country, with 80 of them on the ballot in 33 states. Ohio is among only a few states where it’s possible for voters to flip partisan control of their supreme court, and already activists and the major parties are bracing for an intense and expensive campaign.

Democrats will be defending two seats on the Ohio court this year, while a third is open. Only the open seat, where two Democrats are campaigning for the right to face a Republican judge in November, has a competitive primary.

They would have to win all three races in the fall to flip the court’s 4-3 majority. That’s a tall task in a state where Republicans hold every statewide office, supermajorities in the Legislature and twice voted convincingly for Donald Trump for president.