Political and Campaign Activities of Judicial Candidates

(A) A judicial candidate shall be responsible for all of the following: Acting at all times in a manner consistent with the independence, integrity, (1) and impartiality of the judiciary; Reviewing and approving the content of all campaign statements and (2) materials produced by the judicial candidate or his or her campaign committee before their dissemination; The content of any statement communicated in any medium by his or her (3) campaign committee and for compliance by his or her campaign committee with the limitations on campaign solicitations and contributions contained in Rule 4.4, if the candidate knew of the statement, solicitation, or contribution; (4) No earlier than one year prior to or no later than sixty days after certification of his or her candidacy by the election authority, completing a two-hour course in campaign practices, finance, and ethics accredited by the Commission on Continuing Legal Education and certifying such completion within five days of the date of the course to the Board of Professional Conduct. (B) A judicial candidate shall not do any of the following: Jointly raise funds with a candidate for nonjudicial office, except as (1) permitted by division (C) of this rule; Appear in a joint campaign advertisement with a candidate for nonjudicial (2) office, except as permitted by division (C) of this rule; Expend funds in a judicial campaign that have been contributed to the (3) judicial candidate to promote his or her candidacy for a nonjudicial office. (C) A judicial candidate may do any of the following: (1) Conduct joint fundraising activities with other judicial candidates; (2) Appear in joint campaign advertisements with other judicial candidates; Participate with judicial and nonjudicial candidates in fundraising activities (3) organized or sponsored by a political party; (4) Appear with other candidates for public office on slate cards, sample ballots, and other publications of a political party that identify all of the candidates endorsed by the party in an election; 74 (5) Seek, accept, or use endorsements from any person or organization; State in person or in advertising that he or she is a member of, affiliated (6) with, nominee of, or endorsed by a political party. Comment [1] A judicial candidate remains subject to Rules 4.1, 4.3, and 4.4, in addition to the requirements of this rule. For example, a candidate continues to be prohibited from soliciting funds for a political party, knowingly making false statements during a campaign, or making certain promises, pledges, or commitments related to future adjudicative duties. See Rule 4.1(A), 4.3, and 4.4(F). [2] In elections for judicial office, a candidate may be nominated by or otherwise publicly identified or associated with a political party. This relationship may be maintained through the period of the campaign, and a judicial candidate may include political party affiliation or similar designations in his or her campaign communications. Although these affiliations and others may be communicated to the electorate, a judicial candidate should consider the effect that partisanship has on the principles of judicial independence, integrity, and impartiality. Comparison to Ohio Code of Judicial Conduct