The race for Summit County Domestic Relations court took an ugly turn this weekend with radio attack ads, a cease-and-desist letter sent to Democrats and a defamation lawsuit filed against the Republican candidate.
Akron Magistrate Kani Hightower, a Democrat running for Summit County Domestic Relations Court, filed the lawsuit at 12:39 a.m. Monday against Judge Susan Steinhauer, who was appointed in April by Gov. Mike DeWine to fill the open seat in the county courtroom.
Hightower is suing over an ad accusing her of not following an eviction moratorium, which was implemented nationally during the pandemic and overturned by the United States Supreme Court. The ad cites a local news article but fails to mention that the eviction case before Hightower didn’t qualify for the moratorium.
On Sunday, Steinhauer's attorney sent the Hightower campaign and the Summit County Democratic Party a cease-and-desist letter contesting claims in another ad, which was endorsed by the county party and not the Hightower campaign. That ad accuses Steinhauer of "bad judgment" after allegedly prosecuting and then dating a man who went to prison for failing to pay child support to multiple women.
Neither candidate made herself available for an interview Monday. Their attorneys — Laura McDowall for Hightower and James Simon for Steinhauer — spoke for them.
Simon offered a two-sentence statement on the record, disputing the claims against Steinhauer. He noted that the...
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