William Michael O'Neill is an American lawyer, judge and political figure. He was elected to the Ohio Supreme Court in 2012, for a term beginning January 2013. He served as an appellate judge on the Ohio Eleventh District Court of Appeals for 10 years. Twice, O'Neill was the Democratic nominee for U.S. Representative in. He announced on October 29, 2017 as a candidate for Ohio Governor in the 2018 election. On December 8, 2017, he announced he would resign from the Supreme Court on January 26, 2018. In his retirement, O'Neill resides in northeast Ohio in an upscale neighborhood where he regularly sees visitors for dinner and political discourse among other topics.
In 1996, O'Neill won a seat on the Ohio Eleventh District Court of Appeals with about 50% of the vote. He served from 1997 to 2007, when he resigned to run for Congress.
On February 6, 2010, O'Neill announced that he would be running again as the Democratic nominee for against LaTourette. O'Neill stated during his campaign his desire to expand the Greater Cleveland Rapid Transit rail system. O'Neill lost the election by over 33%.
Candidate
Party
Notes
Votes
Percentage
Steve LaTourette
Republican
Incumbent
149,878
64.92%
William O'Neill
Democratic
72,604
31.45%
John Jelenic
Libertarian
8,383
3.63%
2012 Ohio Supreme Court campaign
In 2012, for the third time, O'Neill ran for the Ohio Supreme Court. He won a two-way primary against Fanon Rucker, a judge on the Hamilton County Municipal Court. O'Neill received 72% of the vote and carried all but one of Ohio's 88 counties. In the general election, O'Neill defeated incumbent Robert Cupp by four percent. O'Neill ran on a budget of just $4000 from his personal funds, a campaign he called "no money from nobody" and that was highlighted in a You Tube video with his twin sons.
Candidate
Party
Notes
Votes
Percentage
William O'Neill
Democratic
2,040,043
52%
Robert Cupp
Republican
Incumbent
1,860,801
48%
2018 Ohio gubernatorial campaign
On October 29, 2017, O'Neill announced that he would join the Democratic primary for Ohio governor. During his announcement, he laid out a platform of minimum wage increases, tax incentives for solar power, mental health care expansion and marijuana legalization in Ohio. Less than a week later he announced that he will recuse himself from new Supreme Court cases and will resign by the February 7, filing deadline due to potential ethical conflicts.
Controversy
On November 17, 2017, O'Neill stirred controversy by posting on Facebook regarding allegations of sexual assault against U.S. Senator Al Franken. He referred to those calling for Franken to resign as "dogs of war" and decried a "national feeding frenzy" against age-old sexual indiscretions. O'Neill went on to claim that he had been in sexual relationships with approximately fifty women. In response to these posts, his communications director resigned from his campaign. Multiple state officials, including Ohio Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor, former state representative and fellow gubernatorial candidate Connie Pillich, Dayton mayor and fellow gubernatorial candidate Nan Whaley, and Lieutenant Governor Mary Taylor, criticized O'Neill's comments, with Pillich and Whaley calling for him to resign from his position as associate justice. O'Neill initially called for his critics to "lighten up", saying that he intended to "elevate the discussion" on sexual assault. However, on November 19, he issued an apology for his remarks.
