Nevius tops Carey in Clark County judicial race

One of the longest-tenured judges in Ohio will serve one more six-year term on the bench in Clark County.

Incumbent Eugene Nevius won re-election for a seat as judge at the Clark County Municipal Court on Tuesday with about 51 percent of the vote, according to final, unofficial results. He beat challenger Daniel Carey, an assistant Clark County Prosecutor, who had about 49 percent of the vote.

Nevius was appointed Municipal Court Judge in 1981 and was elected for the first time in 1985. He’s since won six consecutive six-year terms, and won’t be able to run again after this election due to a state law that prevents anyone older than 70 from running for judge.

“I figured it would be a tight race,” Nevius said. “The name recognition was going to be a big factor in this race and I think it was.”

Nevius said was honored to be re-elected for another six-year term.

“I have a tremendous staff that works very hard to make sure we operate the right way and deal with the challenges that come before us,” Nevius said. “If it works out that way, we’ll work hard to do things the way they need to be done.”

Carey is the younger brother of Clark County Probate Court Judge Richard Carey. A North High School graduate, Daniel Carey served for 24 years in private practice before joining the prosecutor’s office seven years ago.

He congratulated Nevius for being re-elected and thanked members of his committee for their help during the campaign.

“He’s served the community for a long time and hopefully in the next six years we’ll address more effectively the heroin problem we have in the county,” Daniel Carey said. “I appreciate all the support we’ve gotten from Clark County as a candidate. I’ll look forward to continuing to serve the community as an assistant prosecuting attorney.”

Daniel Carey ran on a platform of establishing a drug court — specialized court docket programs that target adult and juvenile offenders — to fight the heroin epidemic in Clark County.

Local judges discussed establishing a drug court several years ago, but decided against it because it was too expensive, Nevius said. Clark County judges use similar methods as drug courts, including alternative sentencing and specialized treatment programs, he said.

“We’re really committed to the treatment aspect of the people who come in,” Nevius said. “Whether you call it a drug court or not, we do all of the things drug courts do.”

Daniel Carey has no definite plans to run again in the future, but he will keep his options open, he said.

“We’ll see what opportunity presents itself,” he said.

Clark County Municipal Court judge Thomas Trempe ran unopposed and was also re-elected.

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