William Vodrey
William Vodrey is a judge of the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas General Division in Ohio. Vodrey assumed office on January 3, 2021. Vodrey's current term ends on January 2, 2027.
Vodrey (Nonpartisan, Democratic Party) ran for election for judge of the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas General Division in Ohio. Vodrey won in the general election on November 3, 2020. Vodrey advanced from the Democratic primary on April 28, 2020.
Elections
2020
See also: Municipal elections in Cuyahoga County, Ohio (2020)
General election
General election for Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas General Division
William Vodrey defeated Kenneth Callahan in the general election for Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas General Division on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | William Vodrey (Nonpartisan) | 50.8 | 226,427 |
 | Kenneth Callahan (Nonpartisan) | 49.2 | 219,723 | |
| Total votes: 446,150 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Phil Calabrese (Nonpartisan)
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas General Division
William Vodrey advanced from the Democratic primary for Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas General Division on April 28, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | William Vodrey | 100.0 | 88,327 |
| Total votes: 88,327 | |||
| = 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 Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas General Division
Phil Calabrese advanced from the Republican primary for Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas General Division on April 28, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Phil Calabrese | 100.0 | 28,667 | |
| Total votes: 28,667 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
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2018
General election
General election for Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas General Division
Deborah M. Turner defeated Lori Anne Dyke in the general election for Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas General Division on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Deborah M. Turner (D) | 71.0 | 263,126 |
| Lori Anne Dyke (R) | 29.0 | 107,717 | ||
| Total votes: 370,843 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas General Division
The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas General Division on May 8, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Deborah M. Turner | 34.5 | 37,074 |
 | John J. Gallagher | 18.8 | 20,269 | |
| William Vodrey | 17.3 | 18,653 | |
 | Karrie Howard | 16.8 | 18,041 | |
| Ronald Mottl | 8.5 | 9,195 | ||
| Thomas Rein | 4.1 | 4,367 | ||
| Total votes: 107,599 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas General Division
Lori Anne Dyke advanced from the Republican primary for Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas General Division on May 8, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Lori Anne Dyke | 100.0 | 30,984 | |
| Total votes: 30,984 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Selection method
- See also: Nonpartisan election of judges
The 391 judges of the Ohio Courts of Common Pleas are all selected in an identical manner. Qualified individuals wishing to join the bench must participate in partisan primary elections followed by nonpartisan general elections.[1]
The chief judges of the Ohio Courts of Common Pleas are chosen by peer vote and serve for one year.[1]
Qualifications
To serve on an appellate or general jurisdiction court, a judge must be:[1]
- a district or county resident (for court of appeals and common pleas judges);
- at least six years practiced in law; and
- under the age of 70.
Under the Ohio Constitution, a judge who reaches 70 years of age may be assigned by the chief justice to active duty, receiving payment on a per-day basis in addition to whatever retirement benefits he or she is entitled to.
Campaign themes
2020
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
William Vodrey did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
2018
Vodrey submitted the following campaign themes through Ballotpedia’s biographical information submission form:
| “ |
If elected, I will: • do all in my power to reduce racial and socioeconomic disparities in the justice system. • support bail reform, including the Arnold Foundation public safety assessment or a similar tool. I believe I’m the only candidate trained in this assessment, a powerful tool for bail reform and data-driven decision making. Cuyahoga County too often has kept poor, nonviolent suspects in jail before trial because they lacked the money to pay their bail. That isn’t justice, and has to change. • treat nonviolent low-level drug offenses as the public health crisis they really are, and not just a reason to incarcerate. • advocate for the specialized dockets of the Court of Common Pleas, including the Veterans Court, Drug Court and Mental Health dockets. • forge closer ties between the court and the mock trial program. William Vodrey has been a Cleveland Municipal Court magistrate for 16 years and is the only candidate for any of the open Court of Common Pleas seats this year with experience presiding over jury trials. He has experience as both an assistant Cuyahoga County prosecutor and a Legal Aid lawyer. He has a deep commitment to public service and justice. Born and raised in East Liverpool, Ohio, William Vodrey first came to Cuyahoga County in 1989 to begin his studies at Case Western Reserve University School of Law. Except for three years in private practice and as a staff attorney with Southeastern Ohio Legal Services, representing clients who could not afford a lawyer in New Philadelphia, Ohio, he and his wife Susan have lived in Cuyahoga County ever since. After his work with Southeastern Ohio Legal Services, William was appointed an assistant Cuyahoga County prosecutor by Stephanie Tubbs Jones, and served for six years, mostly in the felony trial unit. He was appointed a magistrate of Cleveland Municipal Court in late 2001, and has served there ever since. Most judges go their entire careers without ever having a case officially reported as Ohio precedent; William has had 21. He is the only candidate for an open Common Pleas judgeship this year who’s actually presided over jury trials. William is active at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Cleveland Heights. He is also a member of the American Constitution Society, Cleveland Civil War Roundtable, Sons of the American Revolution, and the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association, in which he serves on the Character and Fitness Committee, interviewing and evaluating applicants who wish to take the Ohio bar exam. An Eagle Scout, he is on the Troop Committee of Boy Scout Troop 662 in Shaker Heights, Ohio, an advisor of the Shaker Heights High School Mock Trial Club, and a visiting professor of Legal Advocacy at his undergraduate alma mater, Oberlin College.[2] |
” |
| —William Vodrey | ||
Ballotpedia survey responses
- See also: Ballotpedia's candidate surveys
William Vodrey participated in Ballotpedia's candidate survey on April 7, 2018. The survey questions appear in bold, and William Vodrey's responses follow below.[3]
What would be your top three priorities, if elected?
| “ | 1) do all in my power to reduce racial and socioeconomic disparities in the justice system 2) support bail reform, including the Arnold Foundation public safety assessment or a similar tool, and treat low-level, nonviolent drug offenses as the public health crisis they really are, and not just a reason to incarcerate |
” |
What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about? Why?
| “ | I want to forge closer ties between the court and the OCLRE mock trial program, in which I’ve been involved for many years as both a judge and a coach. I believe it’s important for high school students to learn more about the American court system, explore careers in the law, and develop their leadership skills.Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; invalid names, e.g. too many[2]
|
” |
Ballotpedia also asked the candidate a series of optional questions. William Vodrey answered the following:
Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?
| “ | Former President Barack Obama, for his calm, dignified, effective leadership and his fierce patriotism[2] | ” |
| “ | "Breaker Morant" is a historical movie about a miscarriage of justice in the court-martial of three Australian officers during the Boer War. It is a very powerful drama, and shows the need for fair and impartial justice for all.[2] | ” |
| “ | Integrity, experience and fairness.[2] | ” |
| “ | I believe I have all three, and am pleased to have received the highest ratings from Judge4Yourself.com in my race.[2] | ” |
| “ | To see that justice is done, fairly and impartially, without fear or favor.[2] | ” |
| “ | To have anyone who looked at my service be able to say, "He did his very best and always strived for justice for all."[2] | ” |
| “ | Listening to President Richard Nixon's resignation speech in August 1974, sitting in the back seat of our family's car, since the ramshackle beach house we were staying in at the time didn't have a radio.[2] | ” |
| “ | Boy Scout summer camp staff, teaching rowing and canoeing (Summers 1980-1984)[2] | ” |
| “ | Hard to pick just one, but "Founding Brothers" by Joseph Ellis is excellent. It very engagingly shows the Framers in their relationships with each other as friends, allies, frenemies and mortal foes.[2] | ” |
| “ | "More" by Usher[2] | ” |
| “ | To treat everyone with courtesy and respect, and do my very best to see that justice is done, consistent with the law[2] | ” |
| “ | Chief Justice John Marshall, for his fidelity to the Constitution, his commitment to firmly establishing the national government, and his hard work in seeing that the U.S. Supreme Court would be established as a third and equal branch of that government.[2] | ” |
| “ | Yes. Nobody is perfect, and you need to be able to see, hear and understand the people who appear before you.[2] | ” |
| “ | As noted above, I am pleased to have received the highest ratings from Judge4Yourself.com in my race. The ratings were compiled from the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association, the Norman S. Minor Bar Association, the Ohio Women's Bar Association and the Cuyahoga Criminal Defense Lawyers Association.[2] | ” |
| “ | Not always, but they can be useful to voters.[2] | ” |
| “ | I would like to take my experience, my skills and my passionate commitment to justice to a higher court.[2] | ” |
| “ | Yes, I have been a magistrate - an appointed judicial officer - for the past 16 years. I believe it is extremely useful to have such experience.[2] | ” |
| “ | Depending on what that experience is, and if the judge has actually learned from it, yes.[2] | ” |
| “ | Too many people are cynical about, or hostile to, the judicial system. I would strive to prove to them that they would receive fair, impartial, respectful treatment in my court.[2] | ” |
See also
2020 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Ohio," archived October 3, 2014
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 2.21 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Note: The candidate's answers have been reproduced here verbatim without edits or corrections by Ballotpedia.
- ↑ Ballotpedia's candidate survey, "William Vodrey's responses," April 7, 2018
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
