Job Esau Perry
Judge of the Court of Common Pleas (General Division) (Full term commencing 1-5-2027) · Summit County, Ohio · November 3, 2026
Also on the ballot: Alison McCarty
Job Esau Perry, a Summit County magistrate and defense attorney, is the Democratic challenger for this Common Pleas seat against Republican incumbent Alison McCarty. He is not currently a Common Pleas judge.
What this office decides
General Division judges of the Summit County Court of Common Pleas preside over felony criminal cases, civil lawsuits over $15,000, foreclosures, and some appeals from state agencies. They set bond and sentence people convicted of felonies. Judges serve six-year terms and appear on the general-election ballot without party labels, though they are nominated in party primaries.
How this race lines up with you
Loading your answers…
Dossier
Researched 2026-09-23 · Claude Code research agent with web searchDonald Trump: nothing found. No statement by or about Donald Trump regarding this candidate or race was found.
Who they are
Job Esau Perry is a magistrate in the Probate Division of the Summit County Court of Common Pleas, appointed October 2024, and owner of his own law practice since 2005; incumbent Alison McCarty holds this Common Pleas seat, not Perry (Job for Judge). He ran as the Democratic candidate in the May 2026 primary (Signal Akron). A Georgia native who moved to Ohio in 2001 for law school at the University of Akron, he has served on the Akron Public Schools board and several community and health boards (Job for Judge). The Akron Bar Association rated him "Good" for 2026 (Akron Bar Association).
Positions
- Crime & policing: Says he will judge "each case on an individual basis, with discretion ranging from incarceration to rehabilitation," naming gun violence and drug addiction as issues to weigh case by case (Job for Judge).
- Party politics in courts and agencies: Ran in the partisan Democratic primary; the general-election ballot carries no party label for this office (Signal Akron). No public position found on partisan vs. nonpartisan judicial elections; he says "the Summit County judicial bench should represent the diverse community it serves" (Job for Judge).
Record
Trial attorney since 2005 handling criminal defense and probate matters; court-appointed magistrate presiding over civil-commitment hearings in the Probate Division since October 2024. No rulings were identified (Job for Judge).
Money
No fundraising totals were found. Ohio's campaign finance portal (ohiosos.gov) returned an access error to automated retrieval.
Recent news
- 2024-10: Appointed magistrate in the Probate Division (Job for Judge).
- 2026-05-05: Ran unopposed in the Democratic primary, advancing to face Republican incumbent Alison McCarty in November (Signal Akron).
What we couldn't find
- Campaign finance figures.
- Independent news coverage beyond his campaign site and the Signal Akron primary profile.
- Any statement by or about Donald Trump regarding this race.