Gov. Mike DeWine appoints Sen. Nathan Manning to Ninth District Court of Appeals (UPDATED)

Gov. Mike DeWine has appointed state Sen. Nathan Manning, R-North Ridgeville, to fill an open seat on the 9th District Court of Appeals. Manning, 44, will take office Aug. 3 following the retirement of Judge Donna Carr. He will serve out her unfinished term and must run for election in November to keep the seat. Based in Akron, the court hears appeals of lower court decisions in Lorain, Medina, Summit and Wayne counties. Manning said Friday that leaving the Ohio Senate will be "a little bittersweet, but I'm excited for a new chapter" and challenge. "I'm looking forward to hitting the ground running," he said. Manning said DeWine called him earlier in the week to offer him the appointment. He said the time frame for his appointment also will give him a chance to wrap up his private legal practice. Manning said he will resign from the Ohio Senate at the end of the month, and formally drop out of the race for the Ohio House seat currently held by his mother, Rep. Gayle Manning, R-Avon. The Republican Central Committee for Senate District 13 will then appoint someone to replace Nathan Manning in the Ohio House District 52 race, where the Democratic candidate is Mike Baker. Gayle Manning is running to replace her son in the Ohio Senate. Her opponent is current Rep. Joe Miller, D-Amherst. Nathan Manning currently represents state Senate District 13, including all of Lorain County and a portion of Huron County. He has been the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee since 2019. Lorain County Board of Elections Deputy Director Jim Kramer, a Republican, said the decision whether to appoint a replacement to serve out Nathan Manning's Senate term is up to the discretion of the Senate. A licensed attorney, Nathan Manning and his sister Allison — now Avon Lake Municipal Judge Allison Manning — opened Manning & Manning Attorneys at Law in North Ridgeville in 2008. Nathan Manning said he started his legal career doing criminal defense work, representing court-appointed and private clients on misdemeanor charges all the way up to serious first-degree felonies. He worked in municipal, common pleas and juvenile courts before joining the North Ridgeville city prosecutor's office, from 2012 to 2014. Nathan Manning was then elected to the Ohio House of Representatives in 2014 and served two two-year terms there before moving to the Senate after running for his mother's then-seat. In that same 2018 election, Gayle Manning ran for her son's then-House seat. A graduate of Denison University and Capital University Law School, Nathan Manning said he believes it is important that Lorain County residents have someone from Lorain County representing them on the court of appeals. "It's a huge honor. I don't take it lightly," he said. "I hope to make Lorain County proud, and all the other counties in the district as well."Reporter Owen MacMillan contributed to this story. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.