Kimberly Ontko, a magistrate in Sandusky County Common Pleas Court, defeated suspended Judge Jon Ickes on Tuesday, Nov. 3, to win the Common Pleas Court seat, according to results reported by the Fremont News-Messenger.
Ontko, running as an independent, received 13,729 votes, or 68.97 percent, to 6,177 votes, or 31.03 percent, for Ickes, a Republican, the News-Messenger reported. The results are unofficial until the Sandusky County Board of Elections certifies them.
Ontko has served as a magistrate in Sandusky County Common Pleas Court since May 2023, the News-Messenger reported. Before that appointment, she practiced law in Fremont beginning in 2014, representing individuals and families across Sandusky County.
Ickes sought reelection under extraordinary circumstances. On Aug. 19, 2026, the Ohio Supreme Court announced Ickes was to be immediately removed from judicial office without pay for misconduct, and suspended his law license for two years, according to the News-Messenger and Court News Ohio, the Supreme Court of Ohio’s news service.
The Supreme Court’s decision, as quoted by the News-Messenger, called a two-year suspension “the appropriate sanction to help mend the ‘incalculable harm to the public perception of the legal system,’” and noted that judges are held to the highest possible standard of ethical conduct. Ickes had won an uncontested Republican primary, and although his removal made him unqualified to assume office, his name remained on the ballot because the suspension came after the deadline to field an alternate candidate, the News-Messenger reported.
Ontko had filed a protest with the Sandusky County Board of Elections in August seeking to have Ickes removed from the ballot, Court News Ohio reported. The board denied the protest as filed too late, and the Supreme Court ruled that a candidate protest can only be filed before the primary and that a board cannot remove a candidate within 60 days of the election. Ickes had been appointed to the bench in July 2020 and won a six-year term beginning in January 2021, according to Court News Ohio.
Ontko’s comments were not available to the News-Messenger by press time after the election. During the campaign, she previously told the Fremont News-Messenger: “I am running because I believe our community deserves a judge who is focused, fair and fully committed to the responsibilities of the courtroom. The role of a judge is to serve with integrity, professionalism and respect for the rule of law. That is the standard I hold myself to every day.” The News-Messenger reported she emphasized during the campaign her commitment to maintaining public confidence in the judiciary. She is set to take the seat when the new term begins, following certification of the results.