MARION, OH (MARION COUNTY NOW) – Barring the entry of any independent candidates into the campaign, the field is set for elections for judge of the Marion County Common Pleas Court. Common pleas court judges serve six-year terms.

Judge Warren T. Edwards, an independent, will face a challenge from local attorney Todd Anderson in a race for one of two seats on court’s General Division bench. The term for that seat commences on Jan. 1, 2025.

Edwards defeated longtime Judge Jim Slagle, a Democrat, in the 2018 general election by 633 votes to win the seat. He is the senior judge of the common pleas court and serves as the administrative judge. Edwards has been practicing law for 23 years, spending two decades serving with the Franklin County Prosecutor’s Office.

Anderson, who has practiced law for nearly 30 years, most recently served as chairman of the Marion County Board of Elections. He resigned from the board effective Nov. 30, 2023. The Marion County Republican Party Central Committee has appointed local attorney Jennifer Croskey to replace Anderson on the board of elections.

Common Pleas Court Judge Matthew P. Frericks, a Republican, is running without opposition in the March 19 primary election. Frericks was appointed to the bench in November 2021, replacing former judge Jason Warner. Frericks ran without opposition to fill the unexpired term left vacant by Warner in November 2022. The next term commences on Jan. 2, 2025.

Judge Rhonda Burggraf is running without opposition in the primary election to fill an unexpired term on the Marion County Common Pleas Court’s Family Division bench. Burggaf, a Republican, was appointed to the bench in December 2022 and formally took the position in January 2023. The term expires on Feb. 8, 2027.

Burggraf replaced longtime Judge Robert Fragale, who retired from the Family Division court in December 2022 after a 30-year career as a judge in Marion County.

No other candidates have filed petitions to run for judicial offices in the March 19 primary election.

The board of elections must certify petitions filed by partisan candidates by Jan. 2. Any protests against partisan candidates’ petitions must be filed by 4 p.m. on Jan. 5.

Independent candidates wishing to run for office in 2024 must file petitions by 4 p.m. on March 18.

The deadline to register to vote in the March 19 primary election is Feb. 20.