Andy Miller (Ohio)

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Andy Miller
Democratic Party
Candidate, Franklin County Court of Common Pleas General Division
Franklin County Court of Common Pleas General Division
Tenure
2021 - Present
Term ends
2027
Years in position
5
Elections and appointments
Last election
May 5, 2026
Next election
November 3, 2026
Education
High school
Northmont High School
Bachelor's
Ohio University, 1998
Law
The Ohio State University, Moritz School of Law, 2001
Personal
Birthplace
Dayton, OH
Religion
Baptist
Profession
Judge
Contact
Campaign website
Campaign Facebook

Andy Miller (Democratic Party) is a judge of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas General Division in Ohio. He assumed office on February 9, 2021. His current term ends on February 8, 2027.

Miller (Nonpartisan, Democratic Party) is running for re-election for judge of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas General Division in Ohio. He is on the ballot in the general election on November 3, 2026. He advanced from the Democratic primary on May 5, 2026.

Miller completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2026. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Andy Miller was born in Dayton, Ohio. He earned a high school diploma from Northmont High School, a B.B.A. in finance from the Ohio University College of Business Administration in 1998, and a J.D. from The Ohio State University College of Law in 2001. Miller also studied international relations and economics at Boston University College of Liberal Arts and comparative legal ethics and comparative income distribution systems at Oxford University, St. Anne's College. His career experience includes working as a judge. Miller began working as an assistant city attorney for the Columbus City Attorney's Office in 2009. He previously worked as a professor of law at South Texas College of Law from 2008 to 2009, as a professor of law at Loyola University New Orleans from 2007 to 2008, as a litigation attorney at Squire, Sanders & Dempsey from 2003 to 2007, as a judicial clerk to U.S. District Court for the Central District of California Judge George H. King from 2002 to 2003, and as a judicial clerk to U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Judge Reynaldo G. Garza from 2001 to 2002. Miller has served as a member of the Columbus Bar Association, the Franklin County Democratic Party, the Franklin County Democratic Lawyers Club, and the Stonewall Democrats of Central Ohio.[1][2]

Elections

2026

See also: Municipal elections in Lucas County, Ohio (2026)

General election

The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.

The candidate list in this election may not be complete.

General election for Franklin County Court of Common Pleas General Division

Incumbent Andy Miller (Nonpartisan) is running in the general election for Franklin County Court of Common Pleas General Division on November 3, 2026.

Candidate
Image of Andy Miller
Andy Miller (Nonpartisan)  Candidate Connection

Incumbents are bolded and underlined.

Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Democratic primary

Democratic primary for Franklin County Court of Common Pleas General Division

Incumbent Andy Miller (D) advanced from the Democratic primary for Franklin County Court of Common Pleas General Division on May 5, 2026.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Andy Miller
Andy Miller  Candidate Connection
 
100.0
 
98,733

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. Vote totals may change until results are certified. Source

Total votes: 98,733
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary

The Republican primary scheduled for May 5, 2026, was canceled.

Endorsements

2020

See also: Municipal elections in Franklin County, Ohio (2020)

General election

General election for Franklin County Court of Common Pleas General Division

Andy Miller defeated incumbent Jenifer A. French in the general election for Franklin County Court of Common Pleas General Division on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Andy Miller
Andy Miller (Nonpartisan) Candidate Connection
 
50.9
 
264,627
Image of Jenifer A. French
Jenifer A. French (Nonpartisan) Candidate Connection
 
49.1
 
255,456

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 520,083
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Franklin County Court of Common Pleas General Division

Andy Miller advanced from the Democratic primary for Franklin County Court of Common Pleas General Division on April 28, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Andy Miller
Andy Miller Candidate Connection
 
100.0
 
88,143

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source 1 Source 2

Total votes: 88,143
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Franklin County Court of Common Pleas General Division

Incumbent Jenifer A. French advanced from the Republican primary for Franklin County Court of Common Pleas General Division on April 28, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Jenifer A. French
Jenifer A. French Candidate Connection
 
100.0
 
28,311

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source 1 Source 2

Total votes: 28,311
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Campaign themes

2026

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Candidate Connection

Andy Miller completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2026. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Miller's responses.

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Judge Miller has been on the bench since February 2021. He has a passion for the the law, both as a practical philosophy and as the essential framework for a just and orderly society. He is running for re-election in 2026 so that he may continue to apply his time, energy, and talents in service to the public.
  • Fairness & Independence. I will continue to conduct my judicial responsibilities impartially and without bias or prejudice. My rulings, decisions, and judgments have been—and with remain—free of improper influence from other branches of government, party politics, and other outside interests.
  • Thoughtfulness & Thoroughness. In the cases that come before me, I hear and consider the interests of all parties. I endeavor to educate myself as thoroughly as possible on all aspects of those interests before reaching any conclusion.
  • Respect & Patience. I treat every party, every attorney, and every interested party who appears before me with respect and patience, and I insist that they treat each other similarly.
The Ohio Code of Judicial Conduct cautions judicial candidates against making statements of personal views that might affect public confidence in the judiciary’s independence and impartiality. With that in mind, I remain passionate about voting rights, voter registration, and voter participation. I am equally passionate about access to the courts specifically, access to the judicial system generally, and more efficient case management.
While both of my parents gave me a strong work ethic, they each provided me with a unique worldview. My father was a fiber-optic technician for a telephone company who worked all over the state. He was extremely introverted and spent most of his time on puzzles, riddles, and games that required high levels of analysis, wordplay, or strategy. He shared his passion with me—mostly for fun, but occasionally as punishment. Dad taught me to view the world with my head and to address its problems with logic and reason. My mother was a nurse manager who worked long hours at a hospital in downtown Dayton. She was an extreme extrovert, a strong leader, a fierce friend, and an endless caregiver. At times, it seemed Mom lived solely for the health, happiness, and well-being of her family, friends, nurses, and patients. She taught me to view the world with my heart and to address its problems with empathy, hope, and service. Together, my parents taught me to live life with both my head and my heart, and I will always be grateful to them for that.

Still, I don't think my answer to this question would be complete without also mentioning my childhood best friend's parents, who were both educators. To me, they have always been an example of finding happiness and contentment through balance, moderation, and a genuine concern for others. I have spent my life (with mixed success) trying to be the steadfast and reliable influence for others that they were for me.
I believe anyone seeking elected office should have—at the very least—a good heart and a good head. Heart is first because public service is about helping people. No one should seek elected officer unless they genuinely want to make the world a better place. Heart, however, cannot be everything. Even the most well-meaning individual will make a poor public servant if they lack a good head, which includes a basic understanding of the tasks at hand, humility to understand that they cannot know everything, and both the willingness and ability to ask for assistance and education when necessary.
Trial judges have three primary functions. The first is to decide issues of law and, at times, issues of fact. The second is make sure the parties, attorneys, witnesses, jurors, and court personnel follow proper litigation procedures before, during, or after trials. The third is to manage the open cases on their dockets in such a way that each case efficiently moves through the process without unnecessary expense or delay.

Given those primary junctions, judges should focus on the following five responsibilities. First, judges should remain as objective and unbiased as is humanly possible. Second, judges should maintain a judicial temperament of patience and respect for those who come into their courtrooms. Third, judges should always expand their knowledge of the law and their capacity for legal analysis. Fourth, judges should always be looking to improve the quality of their opinions and rulings. Fifth, judges should focus on the timeliness of their rulings. Finally, judges should always pay careful attention to criminal sentencing and to ensure that the sentences they impose fairly balance all relevant interests and serve the purposes and principles of criminal punishment.
I would like to be remembered as a smart and funny guy who did the best he could for others with the time he had.
Since I was fifteen years old, I would often work several jobs at a time. I believe my very first "official" job was lifeguard at an outdoor swimming pool in my hometown of Englewood, Ohio. I worked there during the summers of 1991 and 1992.
Time management has always been a constant struggle for me. Although I believe I am managing my time much better than I did just five years ago, I hope that I will be even better at it five years from now.
I tend to be a “formalist.” As a legal philosophy, formalism is the idea that legal questions can be solved by formulaic application of existing legal rules to relevant facts. Formalism is an excellent legal approach for most legal questions that trial judges typically face. Nonetheless, when the facts present novel issues of law, formalism becomes trickier. New and unique factual disputes create opportunities for judges to make new law by applying existing rules to new situations. In these situations, judges should take great care to ensure their legal analysis is not being influenced more by their own political and moral convictions than by established legal principles. New rules created to deal with new issues should be as logically consistent with existing rules as is reasonably possible.
Empathy is essential to the process of resolving disputes. A good judge should be able identify, understand, and consider all the relevant variables at play in a given dispute, and empathy is the ability to identify, understand, and consider the positions, feelings, hopes, expectations, and experiences of the parties themselves.
I was ten years old on January 28, 1986, when the U.S. Space Shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after launch. I remember that being the breaking news interrupted our school day.
It is important for the people to have confidence in the legal system. The law’s ability to serve the people relies heavily on the people's respect for the law. The people's respect for the law, in turn, relies heavily on their perception of judicial independence and fairness. Strong, independent, and thoughtful judges working diligently and transparently help increase the people’s confidence in the legal system.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

2020

Candidate Connection

Andy Miller completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Miller's responses.

Expand all | Collapse all

I am the husband of a remarkable woman, the father of two amazing little girls, an accomplished lawyer, and a devoted public servant. I live in Hilliard, Ohio, with my wife, my daughters, my mother-in-law, two dogs, and two cats. For the past ten years, I have served the people of the City of Columbus as a civil litigator with the Columbus City Attorney's Office, and I can best expand my public service to the people of Franklin County as a Judge on the Court of Common Pleas. I graduated from The Ohio State University College of Law in 2001. During my career, I have clerked for a federal appellate judge and a federal trial judge. I have litigated complex cases at a large, multinational law firm. And, I have even been a full-time professor of law. I have constantly sought to earn my living while also doing the greatest amount of good I can for the greatest number of people. I can do that best as a Judge on the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas.
  • Fairness & Independence. If elected, I will conduct myself impartially and without bias or prejudice. My rulings, decisions, and judgments will be free of improper influence from other branches of government, party politics, and outside interests.
  • Thoughtfulness & Thoroughness. If elected, I will hear and consider the interests of all parties to the cases that come before me. I will endeavor to educate myself as thoroughly as possible on all aspects of those interests.
  • Respect & Patience. If elected, I will treat every party and every attorney who appears before me with respect and patience, and I will also insist that they treat each other similarly.
The Ohio Code of Judicial Conduct cautions judicial candidates against making statements of personal views that might affect public confidence in the judiciary's independence and impartiality. With that in mind, I can still say I am passionate about voting rights, voter registration, voter participation, access to the courts specifically, access to the judicial system generally, and efficient case management.
First and foremost, I have a good heart. I believe in a world bigger than myself. I believe my duty in this life is to do what I can to make that world a better place. Second, I have a good head. I know the law, and I know it well. I learn new concepts quickly, and I have fluency in procedural and evidentiary rules. I am highly organized and (some would say) obsessed with efficiency. I have a tremendous respect for the law and its role in our society, for the courts and their place in our democracy, and for the heavy burdens and responsibilities of public service. If elected, I will use both my head and heart to be fair, impartial, effective, and efficient in serving the people of Franklin County, Ohio.
Trial judges have three primary functions. The first is to decide issues of law (though judges also decided issues of fact at times). The second is make sure the parties, attorneys, witnesses, jurors, and court personnel follow proper litigation procedures before, during, and/or after trials. The third is to manage the open cases on their dockets in such a way that each case efficiently moves through the process without unnecessary expense or delay.

Given those primary junctions, judges should focus on the following five responsibilities. First, judges should remain as objective and unbiased as is humanly possible. Second, judges should maintain a judicial temperament of patience and respect for the parties, attorneys, witnesses, and jurors who come to their courts and to the court personnel with whom they work. Third, judges should always be expanding their knowledge of the law and their capacity for legal analysis. Fourth, judges should always be looking to improve the quality of the opinions and rulings they render. Fifth, judges should focus on the timeliness of their rulings. Finally, judges should always pay careful attention to criminal sentencing and to ensure that the sentences they impose fairly balance all relevant interests and serve the purposes of criminal punishment
I was ten years old on January 28, 1986, when the U.S. Space Shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after launch. I remember that being the first time a news event interrupted a school day.
Spider-Man. I believe the reasons are obvious.
While most people tend to think of trial judges as presiding over trials and issuing rulings, they are also responsible for managing the cases over which they preside and seeing that those cases are dealt with fairly, impartially, and quickly. Good case management helps engender confidence in the workings of the judiciary.
Trial judges should also try to put the reasons for their rulings into writing as often as possible. At its heart, our legal system is one of precedent. Rulings by judges in the past guide the reasoning of judges today, and the rulings of judges today guide the reasoning of judges tomorrow. A well written and thoughtfully explained opinion or ruling can serve both the case in which it is rendered and the law generally.
Empathy is essential to the process of resolving disputes. A good judge should be able identify, understand, and consider all of the relevant variables at play in a given dispute, and empathy is the ability to identify, understand, and consider the positions, feelings, hopes, expectations, and experiences of the parties themselves.
I am running for Judge on the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas because it is the trial court of original jurisdiction in this county. I am seeking judicial office generally because of my passion for public service and my love for the law. Since my very first day of law school, I have been devoted to the law as the practical philosophy by which we can achieve and maintain a progressive and civil society. Since 2009, I have been serving the people of the City of Columbus as an Assistant City Attorney with the Columbus City Attorney's Office, and these past ten years have been some of the most rewarding of my life. There is an honor in public service, a pride in knowing that one's time and one's energy are being spent for the public good. My passion for public service has grown as strong as my love for the law. Becoming a judge will allow me to grow as both a lawyer and a public servant. If elected, I can do the greatest amount of good for the largest number of people.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

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External links

Candidate

Franklin County Court of Common Pleas General Division
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    Footnotes

    1. ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on April 21, 2020
    2. ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on July 2, 2026

    Ohio courts

    Federal courts:

    Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Northern District of Ohio, Southern District of Ohio • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Northern District of Ohio, Southern District of Ohio

    State courts:

    Ohio Supreme Court • Ohio District Courts of Appeal • Ohio Courts of Common Pleas • Ohio County Courts • Ohio Municipal Courts • Ohio Court of Claims

    State resources:

    Courts in Ohio • Ohio judicial elections • Judicial selection in Ohio


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