Marilyn Zayas, a Democrat and judge on the Ohio First District Court of Appeals, is running for Ohio Supreme Court Justice in the Nov. 3 general election. Her opponent is Republican Daniel R. Hawkins.

Asked why she is seeking the seat, Zayas said in our candidate questionnaire: "I believe everyone deserves courts they can trust to follow the Constitution, the law and the facts, not politics."

She added: "I am running to bring that same experience, independence and commitment to the state's highest court. I have accepted zero corporate contributions from energy, banking or insurance interests because judicial independence matters."

Candidate information

Party: "Democrat. Judicial office, however, requires independence from political parties," Zayas said in our questionnaire.

"A judge's responsibility is not to a party, candidate or political interest. It is to the Constitution, the law and the facts," she said.

Education: "J.D., University of Cincinnati College of Law, 1997. B.S. in Computer Science, City College of the City University of New York (CUNY), 1987," Zayas said.

Family: "My parents came to the United States from Puerto Rico. My mother had only a seventh-grade education and worked as a factory seamstress," Zayas said in our questionnaire.

"After leaving a difficult marriage, she raised three children on a factory salary," she said. "I am also a mother of three adult children."

Zayas was born in East Harlem, New York City, according to her Wikipedia page. In 2016, she became the first person of Latino heritage elected to a Court of Appeals in Ohio and the first Latina elected to any position in Hamilton County, according to her First District Court of Appeals biography.

Experience and public service

Zayas described her work history in our questionnaire: "I am a Judge on the Ohio First District Court of Appeals, where I have served for nearly a decade and decided more than 2,000 appeals across Ohio. I have also served repeatedly on the Ohio Supreme Court by special assignment, replacing a recused justice."

She also said in the questionnaire: "In 2025, I was selected three times within a 40-day period by the Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court, who is from a different political party than me, to sit by special assignment on the Supreme Court when a justice was recused."

Before law, Zayas worked in technology. "Before practicing law, I worked as an IT Manager at Procter & Gamble, where I solved complex problems. Used my savings to attend law school, then built a legal career focused on serving people and solving problems," she said.

Zayas said in our questionnaire that she created an educational initiative after taking the bench: "In 2017, I created the Educating Tomorrow's Leaders Program to introduce students to the judicial system and help them see themselves as capable of pursuing careers in law and public service."

The National Hispanic Bar Association selected Zayas as its 2024 Latina Judge of the Year, according to her court biography.

On the issues

Judicial endorsements: Asked about the Ohio Supreme Court's ruling that judges may make political endorsements, Zayas said: "I disagree with the decision because judicial independence is not only about being impartial; it is also about maintaining public confidence in that impartiality."

"I will never endorse a political candidate. I believe judges should leave politics at the courthouse door," she said.

Precedent: "Stability in the law is essential. Precedent should carry substantial weight because people, courts, businesses and government rely on established law when making decisions," Zayas said.

"The Supreme Court should overrule its prior decisions only when there is a compelling reason to do so … But overruling precedent should be the exception, not the rule," she said.

Party labels and specialized courts: "I believe that both party endorsements and partisan ballot labels politicize the judiciary and undermine public confidence in independent courts," Zayas said.

Zayas also said the Supreme Court's administrative authority should be used to expand specialized dockets, supporting "the appropriate expansion of Veterans, Mental Health, and Drug Courts to foster safer communities."