COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — William O'Neill has become the latest Democrat to serve on the Republican dominated Ohio Supreme Court.
O'Neill was sworn in at a ceremony in Cleveland on Thursday, where former Justice Alice Robie Resnick administered the oath and Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor provided remarks.
O'Neill is a former 11th District Court of Appeals judge and a registered nurse. He defeated incumbent Republican Robert Cupp in November.
Their contest turned negative when the Ohio Republican Party alleged in ads that O'Neill "expressed sympathy for rapists" in a 12-year-old appellate court decision reversing a rape conviction.
Cupp and the state bar association called for the GOP to pull the ad, but the party refused.
O'Neill will join newly elected Republican Sharon Kennedy and Kasich appointee Judith French as new faces on the court. His term of office begins Jan. 2.
