aligned
Summit County, OH ballot

Steve Elliott

Judge of the Court of Common Pleas (Probate Division) (Full term commencing 2-9-2027) · Summit County, Ohio · November 3, 2026

Also on the ballot: Diana Stevenson

Steve Elliott, a Democrat, is the Chief Magistrate of the Summit County Probate Court, running for the open Probate judgeship; the sitting judge, Elinore Marsh Stormer, is not on the ballot. He was rated "Excellent" by the Akron Bar Association and previously ran for the 9th District Court of Appeals in 2024.

What this office decides

The probate judge oversees wills and estates, guardianships, adoptions, name changes, marriage licenses, and civil mental-health commitments. 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 search result mentioned Trump endorsing, criticizing, or commenting on this candidate; this is a nonpartisan-ballot local judicial race with no national coverage found.

Who they are

Democrat; Chief Magistrate of the Summit County Probate Court since January 2023, after serving as magistrate there from July 2021-January 2023 and magistrate/court investigator from October 2018-July 2021 (Ballotpedia; campaign site). He is not a judge and not the incumbent; sitting Probate judge Elinore Marsh Stormer is not on this ballot (Summit County Probate Court). He ran for the 9th District Court of Appeals in 2024 against Jennifer Hensal; the outcome wasn't confirmed in sources checked (Signal Akron). He holds a J.D. from the University of Akron and a B.A. in criminology from Bowling Green State University, and has worked as a Summit County trial attorney, with the Ohio Adult Parole Authority, and at the CIA (Ballotpedia). The Akron Bar Association rated him "Excellent" (Akron Bar Association).

Positions

  • Party politics in courts and agencies: No public position found.
  • Personal freedom: No public position found.
  • Signal Akron questionnaire: "When a family is dealing with one of the most challenging times of their lives, they should be treated with dignity and respect and should be helped expeditiously" (Signal Akron).

Record

15 years of probate practice; Chief Magistrate since January 2023, but specific rulings were not found in available sources (Ballotpedia).

Money

No campaign finance filings or fundraising totals were found in the sources checked.

Recent news

  • 2026 (May primary): Ran unopposed in the Democratic primary (Signal Akron).
  • 2026: Akron Bar Association rated him "Excellent" (Akron Bar Association).
  • 2024: Ran for 9th District Court of Appeals against Jennifer Hensal (Signal Akron).

What we couldn't find

  • No campaign finance figures or donor information.
  • No explicit positions on judicial partisanship or personal-freedom issues.
  • Outcome of his 2024 Court of Appeals race not confirmed.
Sources (6)