ASHLAND — The two Republican Party candidates for Ashland County Common Pleas Court judge will participate in a live, televised forum on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Victor Perez and David Stimpert are competing on the May 3 primary election to earn a spot on November’s ballot for the seat now held by Judge Ron Forsthoefel.
Forsthoefel announced last year he would not seek re-election after 12 years on the bench. There are no Democrats on the primary ballot.
Stimpert is the chief assistant city law director in Ashland and Perez is the assistant county prosecutor.
Ashland University’s AUTV-20 will broadcast the forum live via Armstrong Cable Channel 20 and also on the Journalism and Digital Media streaming channel (search JDM Streaming on the Internet).
It will be re-broadcast on AU’s radio station, 88.9 WRDL, on Sunday, May 1, at 8 p.m. and replayed periodically on Armstrong’s channel 20 until the election.
“This is a highly competitive race with two good candidates for one of the most important and influential positions in local government,” said Ted Daniels, an AU adjunct instructor and adviser to The Collegian, the university’s student newspaper.
“It’s an opportunity to see how the candidates respond on live TV to questions from a panel of local reporters,” Daniels said.
The reporter panel is scheduled to be Dillon Carr from Ashland Source, Katie Foster from The Collegian and AU-Live.com and Grant Ritchey from the Ashland Times-Gazette.
AUTV-20 news producer Lydia Bice will moderate the forum, which will be produced by AU’s award-winning journalism and digital media department.
“The candidate forum telecast provides another excellent opportunity to JDM students to hone their craft as developing media professionals,” said Dr. David McCoy, JDM department chair and adviser to AUTV-20.
“Moreover, this program enables and the Journalism and Digital Media department to advance its goal of continued outreach and public service to the greater Ashland community,” McCoy said.
Perez, born and raised in Puerto Rico, enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1988. He was deployed for Operation Desert Shield to Saudi Arabia after Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1990.
Perez was honorably discharged in 1993 at the rank of corporal.
After his service, Perez earned a bachelor of arts in English and political science from the University of Dayton and a law degree from Case Western Reserve University.
His first time practicing law was in domestic relations in Arizona, before he moved back to Ohio to become an assistant director of law in the consumer affairs department for the city of Cleveland in 2002.
Perez’s other positions included assistant prosecutor in the criminal division for Cleveland, chief prosecutor for Cleveland, assistant director of law in the litigation section for Cleveland’s law department and Lorain County Prosecutor.
Most recently, the Ashland County prosecutor’s office hired Perez in 2016. Perez has prosecuted more than 600 criminal cases in Ashland County, involving murders, rapists, kidnappers and drug dealers, according to his campaign.
Stimpert, born and raised in Ashland County, grew up on his family’s farm, which he continues to help run today.Â
After graduating from Crestview, Stimpert earned a computer science degree from Ashland University in 2003 and a law degree from the University of Akron School of Law in 2006.Â
Stimpert has run his own law firm on Ashland’s Main Street since 2008. He has been involved in the criminal justice system throughout his career, starting out taking appointments and doing defense work.Â
Stimpert felt called to make a change in 2012, he said, when he began working under Ashland City Law Director Richard Wolfe, handling cases involving domestic violence, assault, child endangerment, traffic and homicides.
In 2014, he became the lead in criminal prosecution duties for the city.
Stimpert has prosecuted more than 9,000 criminal and traffic cases in Ashland County, according to his campaign.
Â
