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Bluedorn wins as domestic judge

Trapp, Lynch win appeals court seats

WARREN — Two former prosecutors were locked in a tight race Tuesday for the judge’s seat in Trumbull County Domestic Relations Court.

Incomplete and unofficial results from the Trumbull County Board of Elections show Democrat Sam Bluedorn leading Republican Sarah Thomas Kovoor by a margin of 51 to 49 percent, with only 831 votes separating them. The gap is not close enough for an automatic recount, but provisional and overseas ballots still need counted.

“I was able to run the campaign I wanted,” Bluedorn said. “We were able to keep the race clean.”

Bluedorn said he has been running the campaign for one-and-a-half years.

Efforts to reach Kovoor on Tuesday night were not successful.

Bluedorn would like to reduce the time for a divorce case to get through the courts to no more than one year for couples without children and no more than 18 months for couples with children.

He would like to have mediation meetings between the parties early, so they can determine, in writing, what they can and cannot agree on in the process.

Kovoor had said she would reduce court time by changing the way cases are scheduled.

Mary Jane Trapp was leading the race for the 11th District Court of Appeals seat 54 percent over her opponent Casey O’Brien, who was receiving 46 percent of the vote, according to incomplete and unofficial results.

“I’m optimistic on returning to the job I loved,” Trapp said. “It is an incredible feeling.”

Trapp said her campaign success was because she attended every fair and chicken dinner.

“It has been a lot of grassroots work,” she said. “I made myself available through social media and in person. I’ve always believed judges should be seen outside of the courtroom.”

Trapp said she plans to look at the system that is in place to determine why it takes so long to get opinions out.

Matt Lynch was leading his race for the 11th District Court of Appeals 55 percent to Darya Klammer’s 45 percent, according to incomplete and unofficial results.

“I think this win is primarily due to the voters of northeast Ohio becoming acutely aware of the importance of judicial races,” Lynch said. “After watching what happened with the U.S. Supreme Court, I think people want a strict constitutionalist on the bench.”

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