Joy Malek Oldfield

incumbent

Judge of the Court of Common Pleas (General Division) (Full term commencing 5-1-2027) · Summit County, Ohio · November 3, 2026

Also on the ballot: Joe Darwal

Joy Malek Oldfield is the sitting Summit County Common Pleas judge for this seat since 2016 and a former Akron Municipal Court judge, running for re-election after an unopposed 2026 Democratic primary. She runs the court's Turning Point recovery-focused drug docket and was rated "Excellent" by the Akron Bar Association for 2026.

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

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Dossier

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

Donald Trump: nothing found. No mention of Donald Trump found in connection with this nonpartisan county judicial race.

Who they are

Joy Malek Oldfield is the Democratic candidate (per the May 2026 primary, unopposed) and current incumbent judge of this seat, seeking re-election for the term commencing May 1, 2027 (Signal Akron; The Ballot Brief). She has served on the Common Pleas court since 2016, after serving as an Akron Municipal Court judge from 2011 to 2016 (The Ballot Brief). The Akron Bar Association rated her "Excellent" for 2026 (Akron Bar Association).

Positions

Crime & policing: Presides over the "Turning Point" felony drug-court docket and created the "Y-STRONG" fitness-access program and "Faith in Recovery" spiritual programming for people in recovery from addiction (The Ballot Brief).
Party politics in courts and agencies: No public statement found; ran in a partisan Democratic primary but will appear without a party label on the general-election ballot, under Ohio's system for electing Common Pleas judges (Ballotpedia).

Record

Recognized by the Summit County Addiction and Mental Health Board for recovery-related work, Nov. 2025 (Court News Ohio). Akron Bar Association 2026 rating: Excellent (Akron Bar Association).

Money

No campaign finance filings located within this research session. Judicial candidates file with the Ohio Secretary of State (ohiosos.gov/campaign-finance).

What we couldn't find

No campaign website located.
No campaign finance data.
Exact date of the Woman of Distinction announcement.

Sources (6)