ASHLAND — Ashland resident and attorney Karen DeSanto Kellogg will represent the Republican Party in the November 2020 race to become the next Ashland County Juvenile and Probate Court Judge.
DeSanto Kellogg won her party’s primary with 60.39 percent of the vote, according to unofficial election results Tuesday, April 28 from the Ashland County Board of Elections.
DeSanto Kellogg acquired 3,343 votes of the 5,436 ballots cast for the Republican primary for Ashland County Juvenile and Probate Court Judge. Her opponents, David M. Hunter and Joseph P. Kearns, Jr. earned 20.16 percent (1,116 votes) and 19.45 percent (1,077 votes) respectively.
“The voters were so selfless to come out and go through the process of voting to have their voices heard, even in these difficult times, and that means everything to me,” Desanto Kellogg said. “I’m so appreciative to the voters, the poll workers and the postal office workers for making this election happen.”
The March 17 in-person election was cancelled only hours before polling stations were set to open through an order from Ohio Department of Health Director Amy Acton. Ultimately, elections were re-scheduled to continue by absentee ballot only through April 28. Ballots could be mailed through April 27.
According to information provided by the Ashland County Board of Elections Deputy Director Amanda Jones Tuesday evening, DeSanto Kellogg’s lead appears to be commanding enough to stand despite ballots that may have been postmarked Monday, April 27 and did not arrive at the Board of Elections Office in time to be counted Tuesday.
After polls closed, Jones said, 776 issued ballots were yet to be counted. These ballots had not yet been received or had some type of error, such as a missing signature. Neither Kearns or Hunter could surpass DeSanto Kellogg if every remaining ballot was in their name.
Still, results are unofficial this evening, as they are every election night. Ballots will be recounted and confirmed before considered final.
If DeSanto Kellogg wins the November 2020 election, she’d replace Judge Damian Vercillo, who couldn’t run again due to age restrictions, in January 2021.
She’ll have no competition from the Democratic Party, as no Democratic candidates participated in the primary, but she could see competition from a potential independent candidate.
DeSanto Kellogg is a partner at the Ashland-based DeSanto and Kellogg Law Office and a mother of five.
She graduated from Ashland High School in 1993 and earned her law degree from Cleveland Marshall Law School in 2000.
She has more than 18 years experience as an attorney and has served as an assistant prosecutor in Morrow, Richland and Ashland Counties, and she serves as a guardian ad litem in juvenile court and a guardian in probate court.
DeSanto Kellogg is the secretary of the Ashland Parenting Plus Board and has served as a board member and chair of the Appleseed Community Mental Health Board.
She was endorsed by the Ashland County Sheriff and the Mayor of Loudonville in this election.
She watched the election results come in Tuesday evening with her immediate family. they sat outside on their patio and waited for results to be reported.
It was fitting, she said, as they were beside her throughout the campaigning process, through numerous in-person events prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ohio and after as she continued remote campaigning through social media, mail and print advertising.
“The most favorite thing I enjoyed about being a candidate was meeting people and being with people,” DeSanto Kellogg said. “I’ve really missed the in-person interactions, and that meant we had to rely the work we had already done.
“It shifted the focus, but we worked to let people know your voice matters — the same way it mattered on March 16.”
She praised her opponents, Hunter and Kearns, for running “exemplary” campaigns alongside her.
