Six independents file for Lorain County general election on Nov. 4

This story was edited to reflect the following correction: Richard Ramsey is a Republican running for Oberlin Municipal Judge. Six independent candidates filed to appear on the general election ballot in November. The deadline for independent candidates to file for general elections with the Lorain County Board of Elections was 4 p.m. Monday. Four candidates filed in Lorain County while two filed in Erie County to run in Vermilion races. According to the Board of Elections, independents are running for Elyria City Council, one is running for Oberlin Municipal judge and two are seeking to become Vermilion Municipal judge in the Nov. 4 election. In Elyria, incumbent independents City Councilmen Brad Armstrong, 5th Ward, and Andrew Lipian, 1st Ward, both filed to seek reelection. Armstrong is running for reelection for the first time after he won the seat in 2023, while Lipian seeks a third term on Council. Fellow independent Clifton Oliver also filed to run in Elyria, as he will seek a Council-at-large seat as a challenger. Oliver ran unsuccessfully for an at-large seat in 2021. Lipian will face Democrat Maggie Lieux in the general election and Armstrong will face Democrat Kim Black-Brown. Brett Murner, a Wellington attorney, filed as an independent candidate for Oberlin Municipal judge. He is seeking to succeed four-term Oberlin Municipal Judge Thomas Januzzi, who is retiring. In the general election in November, Murner will face Republican Richard Ramsey and one of two Democrats who are competing in a primary election: Chief Oberlin Municipal Prosecutor Farah Emeka and attorney Zach Simonoff. Although the primary election municipal court race is partisan, the general election in November will be a nonpartisan race with no party affiliations listed on the ballot, per Ohio Revised Code. Two Vermilion residents will compete to become the next Vermilion Municipal judge in November, as David Berta and Kenneth Lieux both filed with the Erie County Board of Elections, which oversees Vermilion Municipal Court races, prior to the Monday deadline. Both Berta and Lieux are attorneys with offices in Elyria and they are vying to replace Judge Zack Dolyk, who is not seeking reelection due to judicial age limits. Berta is a former Lorain County Domestic Relations judge who was sued for sexual harassment in 2012, shortly before he was defeated in a Democratic primary. Lorain County settled the lawsuit, agreeing to pay the complainant $180,000 while neither Berta nor the county admitted wrongdoing. No candidates filed to run in either the Democratic or Republican primaries for Vermilion Municipal judge. The Board of Elections has until July 15 to certify independent candidates for the Nov. 4 election, according to the Ohio secretary of state's 2025 election calendar. Contact Owen MacMillan at (440) 329-7123 or omacmillan@chroniclet.com.