Matthew George will move to a new bench next year.
The 45-year-old Licking County municipal judge won a three-way battle in the Republican primary for 5th District Court of Appeals judge. The election concluded with poll voting on May 5.
Unofficial results showed George with 46% (58,315 votes), to turn back Matt Donahue, who collected 41% (51,816 votes), and Jeff Furr, with 13% (16,189 votes).
George said he’d felt good about his chances for about the past month. He said his campaign team accomplished the kind of grassroots groundwork needed in the 15-county race.
“Our campaign just worked harder than the other two guys,” he said.
Because no Democrats or independents entered the race, this primary was effectively the general election, too.
Donahue, of Fairfield County, is chief legal counsel for Gov. Mike DeWine and Lt. Gov. Jim Tressel. The 46-year-old previously worked as a section chief in the Ohio Attorney General’s Office.
George won in eight counties, compared to the seven carried by Donahue.
But George’s landslide margin in his home county of Licking — where his 68% of the vote created a 7,059-vote gap over second-place Donahue — is what propelled him to victory.
Donahue deferred comment to a statement released election night on his Facebook post.
“I just called Matthew George to congratulate him on a hard-fought win, and I thank Jeff Furr for a vigorous campaign,” he wrote. “This wasn’t what we were hoping for but I’m incredibly proud of the team we built and the message we carried into all 15 counties. Thank you, Gov. DeWine, Coach Tressel, my wife Jill, and my kids. God bless Ohio.”
Furr, a 65-year-old longtime private practice attorney from Knox County, lost his third straight election for an appeals court seat. He came up short in previous bids in 2022 and 2024.
George will begin his six-year term on Feb. 9, 2027. He’ll take over the seat now occupied by retiring Judge William B. Hoffman, who’s sat on the six-member panel since 1991. The salary for the post next year is $196,364.
The 5th District is one of 12 appeals courts in Ohio. It covers Stark, Ashland, Coshocton, Delaware, Fairfield, Guernsey, Holmes, Knox, Licking, Morgan, Morrow, Muskingum, Perry, Richland and Tuscarawas counties.
Geroge, a father of three daughters, said he relishes the chance to trade a faster-paced municipal court seat for the more methodical appeals post, where judges work in three-member panels.
“Getting to spend time … more time to think through legal issues,” he said.
Prior to winning the municipal judge seat in 2019, then again last year, George worked 12-plus years as a Licking County Common Pleas magistrate.
Appeals court judges consider legal challenges from municipal and common pleas court cases. Many times, they are the final appeals option, because the Ohio Supreme Court is not obligated to hear every case it’s presented.
Reach Tim at 330-580-8333 or tim.botos@cantonrep.com.On X: @tbotosREP
This article originally appeared on The Repository: George wins GOP primary and seat on 5th District Court of Appeals
Reporting by Tim Botos, Canton Repository / The Repository
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