Bill Sperlazza

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Bill Sperlazza

Democratic Party

Franklin County Court of Common Pleas General Division

Tenure

2023 - Present

Term ends

2029

Years in position

2

Report an officeholder change

Elections and appointments

Last elected

November 8, 2022

Education

Bachelor's

Youngstown State University, 2003

Law

Ohio State University, Moritz College of Law, 2006

Personal

Birthplace

Youngstown, Ohio

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Instagram

Personal LinkedIn

Bill Sperlazza (Democratic Party) is a judge of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas General Division in Ohio. He assumed office on January 9, 2023. His current term ends on January 8, 2029.

Sperlazza (Nonpartisan, Democratic Party) ran for election for judge of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas General Division in Ohio. Sperlazza won in the general election on November 8, 2022. He advanced from the Democratic primary on May 3, 2022.

Sperlazza completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Bill A. Sperlazza was born in Youngstown, Ohio. He earned a bachelor's degree from Youngstown State University in 2003 and a law degree from the Ohio State University, Moritz College of Law in 2006. Sperlazza has been a youth and high school girls and boys basketball coach.

Elections

2022

See also: Municipal elections in Franklin County, Ohio (2022)

General election

General election for Franklin County Court of Common Pleas General Division

Bill Sperlazza defeated Will Ireland in the general election for Franklin County Court of Common Pleas General Division on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Bill Sperlazza (Nonpartisan)	59.6	202,686
		Will Ireland (Nonpartisan)	40.4	137,181

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source 1 Source 2	Total votes: 339,867
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Franklin County Court of Common Pleas General Division

Bill Sperlazza advanced from the Democratic primary for Franklin County Court of Common Pleas General Division on May 3, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Bill Sperlazza	100.0	62,717

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 62,717
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Franklin County Court of Common Pleas General Division

Will Ireland advanced from the Republican primary for Franklin County Court of Common Pleas General Division on May 3, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Will Ireland	100.0	53,277

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 53,277
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Endorsements

To view Sperlazza's endorsements in the 2022 election, please click here.

2019

See also: Municipal elections in Franklin County, Ohio (2019)

General election

Special general election for Franklin County Municipal Court Environmental Division

Stephanie Mingo defeated Bill Sperlazza in the special general election for Franklin County Municipal Court Environmental Division on November 5, 2019.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Stephanie Mingo (Nonpartisan)	51.6	86,479
		Bill Sperlazza (Nonpartisan)	48.4	81,051

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source 1 Source 2	Total votes: 167,530
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Campaign themes

2022

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Bill Sperlazza completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Sperlazza's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

My career, my compassion for people, and my belief in the strength of our community are the building blocks of my campaign for Judge of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas. My legal experience includes 17 years of criminal, civil, and environmental law. I grew up in Youngstown, OH. I attended law school at Ohio State University where I was Executive Editor of the Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law. I was fortunate to study abroad at the University of Oxford and was equally fortunate to begin working for Columbus City Attorney Rick Pfeiffer in 2005. I’ve worked in the courthouses of Franklin County for 17 years handling thousands of cases. I’ve tried dozens of cases to judges and juries in Franklin County. I have been fortunate to receive multiple awards for my legal work including: Ohio Crime Prevention Association Special Projects Award, Columbus Police Department Meritorious Public Service Award, City of Columbus Mayor’s Award of Excellence, Northland Community Council President’s Award. While my legal career has been fulfilling, I’ve equally enjoyed my career coaching youth basketball. For nearly 15 years I have coached basketball at every level from youth sports to serving as a varsity head coach. Working with these young people many different religious, racial and socioeconomic backgrounds has left a lasting influence on my life. I live in Grandview Heights, OH with my wife Abbey and are three children Autumn (8), Nora (6), and Will (1).

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• My career, my compassion for people, and my belief in the strength of our community are the building blocks of my campaign.
• Fairness, compassion, and a sense of duty to my community are the hallmarks of my judicial philosophy.
• I have 17 years of legal experience in the courtrooms of Franklin County.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Maintaining the Court's docket is an expeditious and timely manner. Exhibiting fairness and compassion to all those who enter the courtroom.

Have you ever been rated by a Bar Association? If so, what was the rating?

"Highly Recommended"

Do you believe that it's beneficial for a judge to have previous experience in government or politics?

Yes.

Do you believe that Bar Association ratings are an accurate reflection of a judge’s ability?

Yes

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

2019

Bill Sperlazza did not complete Ballotpedia's 2019 Candidate Connection survey.

See also

2022 Elections

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Government

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External links

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Footnotes

Ohio courts

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Federal courts:

Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Northern District of Ohio, Southern District of Ohio • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Northern District of Ohio, Southern District of Ohio

State courts:

Ohio Supreme Court • Ohio District Courts of Appeal • Ohio Courts of Common Pleas • Ohio County Courts • Ohio Municipal Courts • Ohio Court of Claims

State resources:

Courts in Ohio • Ohio judicial elections • Judicial selection in Ohio