Ohio › Mahoning County › Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Judge, General Division (term beginning July 1, 2027)
4 candidates are tracked for Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Judge, General Division (term beginning July 1, 2027) on the November 3, 2026 ballot: Ralph Rivera, J. Michael Thompson, Robert Andrews and Jeff Limbian. Candidate information follows official Mahoning County election filings; verify with the official election office linked below.
Open seat: Judge John M. Durkin is not seeking reelection. Republican primary winner Ralph Rivera faces Democratic nominee J. Michael Thompson and independents Robert Andrews and Jeff Limbian. Ohio judicial candidates appear on the November ballot without party labels.
Nonpartisan
Ralph Rivera has served as a Mahoning County assistant prosecutor since November 2007, working in the Criminal and Appellate divisions and serving as chief of the Criminal Division, per his campaign site. He is running for the seat held by Judge John M. Durkin, who is not seeking reelection, per WYTV.
Campaign site →Nonpartisan
J. Michael Thompson is an attorney and president of the Poland Village Council, per WKBN. No campaign website or questionnaire response was found as of September 10, 2026; the official election filing is the only verifiable source for J. Michael Thompson.
Nonpartisan
Robert Andrews joined the Mahoning County Prosecutor's Office in 1999 and has handled more than 100 felony trials in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, including 50 homicide cases, per the Tribune Chronicle. He is a registered Democrat running as an independent candidate for this seat. No campaign website or questionnaire response was found as of September 10, 2026; the official election filing is the only verifiable source for Robert Andrews.
Nonpartisan
Jeff Limbian is running for the Common Pleas Court seat held by Judge John M. Durkin, who is not seeking reelection, per the Tribune Chronicle. He has previously run for office five times, including twice for Common Pleas Court judge, twice for Youngstown Municipal Court judge and once, in 2023, for Youngstown clerk of courts. No campaign website or questionnaire response was found as of September 10, 2026; the official election filing is the only verifiable source for Jeff Limbian.