Kelly L. McLaughlin
incumbentJudge of the Court of Common Pleas (General Division) (Full term commencing 1-3-2027) · Summit County, Ohio · November 3, 2026
Unopposed on this ballot.
Kelly L. McLaughlin is the Democratic incumbent judge of this Common Pleas seat, serving since 2018 and as Presiding Judge since 2020. She is running unopposed in the November general election after winning a contested primary.
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 searchDonald Trump: nothing found. No statement by or about Donald Trump regarding this candidate or race was found.
Who they are
Kelly L. McLaughlin is the sitting judge of this seat, serving since December 2018 and as the court's Presiding Judge since January 2020 (Judicial Votes Count). She won the Democratic primary in May 2026, defeating L. Mialon Morris, and faces no opponent in November (Signal Akron). Before the bench she was a Domestic Relations magistrate and chief magistrate (2010-2018), after 23 years in private practice handling criminal, civil, and family matters (Judicial Votes Count). The Akron Bar Association lists her as unopposed for 2026 and issued no rating (Akron Bar Association).
Positions
- Crime & policing: Says "smart judges can help prevent crime, through careful and thoughtful sentencing processes," and names addressing the root causes of crime through treatment programs as a priority (Signal Akron).
- 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; she names judicial independence from political pressure as a priority (Signal Akron).
Record
Created the court's SCORR recidivism-reduction program and has served as Presiding Judge, an internal administrative post, since January 2020 (Signal Akron; Judicial Votes Count). No individual rulings or reversals were found.
Money
No fundraising totals were found for this unopposed race. Ohio's campaign finance portal (ohiosos.gov) returned an access error to automated retrieval.
Recent news
- 2026-05-05: Won the only contested Summit County judicial primary that cycle, against L. Mialon Morris, and denounced a controversial campaign flyer whose contents were not found in this research (Signal Akron).
- 2026: Listed as unopposed by the Akron Bar Association heading into November (Akron Bar Association).
What we couldn't find
- Campaign finance figures.
- The contents of the primary-campaign flyer she denounced.
- Any statement by or about Donald Trump regarding this race.