Delaney, Gormley judicial candidates for 5th District Court of Appeals

EDITOR’S NOTE: Seven judicial candidates are vying for three seats on the Fifth District Court of Appeals. This is the first of three articles profiling the candidates. Part II is here.

MOUNT VERNON — Voters frequently know little about judicial candidates. Because of a lack of information, many respond by not voting at all.

It can become more confusing when there are multiple candidates. Such is the case in the March 19 primary election for the Fifth District Court of Appeals.

The Fifth District includes Ashland, Coshocton, Delaware, Fairfield, Guernsey, Holmes, Knox, Licking, Morgan, Morrow, Muskingum, Perry, Richland, Stark, and Tuscarawas counties.

There are 12 appellate courts in Ohio. The number of judges for each district depends on population and caseload. The Fifth District Court of Appeals has six judges. Three judges, randomly assigned, hear each case.

Appeals court judges must have at least six years of experience practicing law. They serve six-year terms and are elected in even-numbered years.

No Democrats filed for the March 19 primary election. Seven Republican candidates are vying for three seats in the primary:

•Term starting Feb. 9, 2025 — Aletha Carter, Jeff Furr, and Robert Montgomery

•Term starting Feb. 10, 2025 — Dixie Park and Kevin Popham

•Term starting Feb. 11, 2025 — Patricia Delaney and David Gormley

Over the next several days, Knox Pages will take an in-depth look at the candidates in the three races.

Basic background information comes from the candidates’ websites. Knox Pages sent the candidates a questionnaire to learn more about their views and judicial philosophy. Their responses are included.

Judicial candidates: Term starting Feb. 11, 2025

Incumbent Judge Patricia Delaney looks to retain her seat against challenger David Gormley, a Delaware County Common Pleas judge.

Both have extensive experience in common pleas, municipal, family, juvenile, and probate courts. Delaney has authored approximately 85 court opinions a year, published 1,445 opinions over her career, and participated in over 2,890 panel opinions.

Gormley successfully defended Ohio’s motto, “With God All Things Are Possible,” in federal court. Felony cases he prosecuted include a death penalty murder case.

Both judicial candidates served in the Ohio Attorney General’s Office.

Judge Patricia Delaney

Delaney has taken some heat for running on the Republican ticket after previously being elected three times as a Democrat. She was first elected in 2006.

A resident of Delaware, Delaney received her bachelor’s and J.D. degrees from the University of Toldeo. Prior to her election as judge, Delaney was assistant city attorney for the City of Columbus for nine years.

She previously served as Ohio assistant attorney general, staff attorney for Franklin County Court of Common Pleas, and as attorney with Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease. Delaney has served by assignment on the Ohio Supreme Court and several other Ohio Court of Appeals.

AFFILIATIONS: Secretary, Ohio Court of Appeals Judges Association (2024) Member, Ohio Judicial Advisory Group (2022-2024) Instructor, Ohio Judicial College (2008-2024) Chair, Ohio Supreme Court Commission on the Rules of Superintendence (2016-2018) Member, Ohio Supreme Court Commission on the Rules of Superintendence (2013-2016) Past Chair, Ohio Court of Appeals Judges Association, Bylaws Committee Member, Coshocton Business and Professional Women’s Association Member, Ohio State Bar Association Member, Ohio Women’s Bar Association Member, Stark County Bar Association Member, Delaware County Bar Association Admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, the U.S. District Court, Northern and Southern

What do you see as the primary role of an appeals court judge?

Our primary role is to act as a supervisor of the approximately 70 trial court judges in the 15 counties of the Fifth District. We sit mainly as a court of “error correction.” In other words, making sure the trial court judge acted legally and within the discretion afforded by the law.

What do you think is the most important skill of being a good appeals court judge?

Being well-organized and a quick learner.

Why are you running?

I love my job. I’ve been elected three times and never tire of the uniqueness that each day brings to my life as a judge of the Fifth District Court of Appeals.

How would you pick your staff?

Each judge has two staff attorneys and one administrative assistant. In addition, the Fifth District employs a separate administrative staff comprising of approximately eight people. In general, open positions are filled by accepting resumes, followed by an interview process.

What is your position on judicial activism?

In my role as an appellate court judge, we must follow and apply the law as created by the legislative branch and the U.S. And Ohio Supreme Courts so judicial activism does not come into play.

When becoming a judge, which is more important: the number of cases you’ve handled or the types of cases?

For a court of appeals judge, the more variety of cases you have had handled is important because the Fifth District Court of Appeals hears all appeals from many different courts and areas of law such as civil, criminal, domestic relations, juvenile, and probate.

What is your position on recusal?

In my judicial experience, it is rare.

Do you have any business interests that would preclude you from ruling on a case? Any that you would remain involved in if elected?

No.

Can you point to any case that profoundly affected you? Perhaps in the outcome, the way you (or the sitting judge) handled it, or that points to a need/process that you feel needs changed?

Personally, my first case involving the termination of parental rights in an abuse/neglect/dependency case had a profound effect on me because I’m a mother of four children, and I know the strength of the parent/child bond and why the best interest of the child can outweigh that bond, especially in cases involving substance abuse.

Judge David Gormley

Gormley earned his law degree from Harvard University in 1990. Since then, he worked at a law firm and served as an assistant prosecutor, assistant attorney general, state solicitor, and lawyer for the Ohio Supreme Court.

He served seven years on the Delaware Municipal Court and is in his second six-year term as Delaware County Common Pleas judge. The Powell resident has experience in civil and criminal cases as well as appellate experience.

Gormley oversees a mental health docket and has presided over more than 160 jury trials.

Endorsements: Buckeye Firearms Association, Delaware County Republican Party, Fairfield County Republican Party, Knox County Republican Party, Licking County Republican Party, Ohio Right to Life, Perry County Republican Party, Richland County Republican Party

What do you see as the primary role of an appeals court judge?

Courts of appeals serve as a check on the work of trial courts.  In our justice system, parties who feel that something was done improperly in a trial court have the opportunity to ask a fresh set of judges on the court of appeals to take a second look at a case.  That second-look opportunity is one of the great strengths of the American legal system.

What do you think is the most important skill of being a good appeals court judge?

Good appellate judges must be open-minded, intellectually curious, and skilled at writing.

Why are you running?

I bring to this race more than 16 years of experience as a trial judge.  Every day, I work with law enforcement officers, substance-use treatment providers, probation officers, mediators, prosecutors, and defense attorneys.  Trial judges work in the midst of so many of the social and economic challenges faced by real people who land in our courtrooms, and my trial-court experience will inform my work on the court of appeals and will be useful to colleagues, parties, lawyers, and me if I am elected.

How would you pick your staff?

I have always looked for staff members who are smart, hard-working, and humble, and I value those who treat co-workers and the public with courtesy and respect.

What is your position on judicial activism?

Judges are not politicians, and we’re not policymakers.  We evaluate facts that are presented to us, and we apply to those facts the legal principles established by prior court rulings in similar cases and the laws that legislators and policymakers have written. 

When becoming a judge, which is more important: the number of cases you’ve handled or the types of cases?

Because the court of appeals reviews cases of many different types, experience handling all kinds of cases – criminal, civil, traffic, domestic-relations, juvenile and others – is useful to those who serve on that court.  Both as a lawyer and as a judge, I have handled many kinds of cases over many years, and I have presided at more than 165 jury trials in cases covering all kinds of criminal offenses and civil claims.

What is your position on recusal?

I have rarely had to recuse from cases during my 16+ years as a judge, but I certainly do consider recusing when I feel that a reasonable person, knowing all of the circumstances, would have serious doubts about my ability to be fair in a particular case.

Do you have any business interests that would preclude you from ruling on a case? Any that you would remain involved in if elected?

No.

Can you point to any case that profoundly affected you? Perhaps in the outcome, the way you (or sitting judge) handled it, or that points to a need/process that you feel needs changed?

More than once, persons who were facing criminal charges at my court or who were on probation with me have died from drug overdoses.  Those deaths always affect me and my staff.  Trial judges see every day the challenges that addictions pose in so many people’s lives, and we often see, too, the impacts of household violence, homelessness, mental health issues, transportation issues, poverty, and other challenges that real people face.  My direct experience with those issues will continue to shape me and my work on the court of appeals if I am elected.