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Summit County, OH ballot

Daniel R. Hawkins

Republicanincumbent

Justice of the Supreme Court (Full term commencing 1-1-2027) · Summit County, Ohio · November 3, 2026

Also on the ballot: Marilyn Zayas (Democratic)

Daniel R. Hawkins is the incumbent Ohio Supreme Court justice for this seat, elected in November 2024 after serving as a Franklin County prosecutor and Common Pleas judge. He is running for reelection against Democrat Marilyn Zayas with no located campaign statements on the value-axis issues.

What this office decides

The Ohio Supreme Court is the state's highest court: seven justices elected statewide to six-year terms, listed with party labels since 2022. It has the final word on the Ohio Constitution, which puts it at the center of disputes over redistricting, abortion and other constitutional amendments, school funding, and the wording of statewide ballot issues, and it hears death-penalty appeals.

How this race lines up with you

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Dossier

Researched 2026-09-23 · Claude Code research agent with web search

Donald Trump: nothing found. No search result found Trump endorsing, opposing, or commenting on Hawkins; a primary-season ad calling a candidate 'pro-Trump' referred to a different Republican (Andrew King), not Hawkins.

  • Ohio Chamber of Commerce PAC (for) source
  • Ohio Business Roundtable (for) source
  • National Federation of Independent Business-Ohio (for) source
  • Ohio Manufacturers' Association (for) source
  • Ohio Farm Bureau Federation (for) source

Who they are

Daniel R. Hawkins is the incumbent justice for this seat, elected in November 2024 and invested as the Ohio Supreme Court's 164th justice in February 2025 (CourtNews Ohio; Ballotpedia). A Republican, he seeks reelection against Democrat Marilyn Zayas. He spent 13 years as a Franklin County prosecutor, a decade leading its Special Victims Unit, then served on the Franklin County Municipal Court's Environmental Division from 2013 and later the Franklin County Common Pleas Court (Supreme Court of Ohio).

Positions

  • Voting rules, Party politics in courts and agencies, Personal freedom, Crime & policing, Schools: No public position found on any of these; no campaign statement or ruling addressing them was located.

Record

As a Common Pleas judge he received top ratings from the Columbus Bar Association (Supreme Court of Ohio). The Supreme Court publishes a list of his authored opinions, but it could not be read as text in this research, so no specific rulings are confirmed here (Supreme Court of Ohio).

Money

For the filing period covering mid-April through early June 2026, Hawkins reported $31,300 in contributions and about $226,800 cash on hand; his cash-on-hand lead over Zayas, over $100,000 after the prior period, narrowed here (OCJ).

Recent news

  • 2026-07-03: Filings show a narrowing but still large cash lead over Zayas (OCJ).
  • 2026-08-18: Endorsed, with O'Donnell, by the Ohio Chamber of Commerce PAC, Business Roundtable, NFIB-Ohio, Manufacturers' Association, and Farm Bureau; Chamber president Steve Stivers said judges should 'interpret the law and not write the law from the bench' (WOSU).

What we couldn't find

  • No campaign statements on any listed value-axis issue.
  • No Trump endorsement or criticism found.
  • Could not read his authored opinions to identify notable rulings.
  • No breakdown of largest donors, only aggregate totals.
Sources (6)