Ralph E. Winkler (Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas Judge)

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Ralph E. Winkler

Republican Party

Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas Probate Division

Tenure

Present officeholder

Term ends

2027

Report an officeholder change

Elections and appointments

Last elected

November 3, 2020

Education

Bachelor's

University of Cincinnati, 1983

Law

Northern Kentucky University, Salmon P. Chase College of Law, 1986

Personal

Birthplace

Cincinnati, Ohio

Religion

Christian

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Twitter

Ralph E. Winkler (Republican Party) is a judge of the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas Probate Division in Ohio. His current term ends on February 8, 2027.

Winkler (Nonpartisan, Republican Party) ran for re-election for judge of the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas Probate Division in Ohio. Winkler won in the general election on November 3, 2020. He advanced from the Republican primary on April 28, 2020.

Winkler completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.

Winkler previously served in the General Division of the court from 2004 until 2015.

Education

Winkler was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. He received his bachelor of business administration with a major in finance and accounting from the University of Cincinnati in 1983 and his J.D. from the Salmon P. Chase College of Law at Northern Kentucky University in 1986.

Career

• 2015-Present: Judge, Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas, Ohio Probate Division
• 2004-2014: Judge, Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas, Ohio General Division
• 1999-2004: Judge, Hamilton County Municipal Court, Ohio
• 1987-1999: Assistant county prosecutor, Hamilton County, Ohio
• 1987: Admitted to the Ohio Bar

Winkler has also worked as an adjunct professor at the University of Cincinnati College of Law.

Awards and associations

Awards

• 2008: Judge of the Year - Hamilton County Trial Lawyers Association
• 2004: Judicial Skills diploma - American Academy of Judicial Education

Associations

• Member, Ohio Court of Common Pleas Association
• Member, Cincinnati Bar Association
• Member, Ohio Bar Association

Elections

2020

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

General election

General election for Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas Probate Division

Incumbent Ralph E. Winkler defeated Pavan Parikh in the general election for Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas Probate Division on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Ralph E. Winkler (Nonpartisan)	53.1	201,245
		Pavan Parikh (Nonpartisan)	46.9	177,677

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 378,922
= 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 Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas Probate Division

Pavan Parikh advanced from the Democratic primary for Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas Probate Division on April 28, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Pavan Parikh	100.0	55,501

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 55,501
= 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 Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas Probate Division

Incumbent Ralph E. Winkler advanced from the Republican primary for Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas Probate Division on April 28, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Ralph E. Winkler	100.0	35,352

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 35,352
= 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.

2014

See also: Ohio judicial elections, 2014
Winkler ran for election to the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas Probate Division.
General: He defeated Charlie Luken in the general election on November 4, 2014, receiving 53.2 percent of the vote.Winkler was endorsed by the Hamilton County Republican Party to run for the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas Probate Division seat held by James Cissell. 

2010

Winkler was re-elected to the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas after running unopposed.

See also: Ohio Court of Common Pleas judicial elections, 2010 (A-H)

2004

Winkler was elected on November 2, 2004, to a six-year term on the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas and assumed office on January 15, 2005.

Campaign themes

2020

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Ralph E. Winkler completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Winkler's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I am a husband, a father, a grandfather, and a dedicated public servant. I began as a law clerk in the Court of Common Pleas while paying my way through law school. During law school I also interned with the Public Defender. In 1987, I became an Assistant Hamilton County Prosecutor, a role in which I served until I became a judge in 1999. As a lawyer and a judge, I believe in equality and justice for all. I believe courts should be accessible, open, and transparent. I strive to decide cases fairly and without delay to build the public's trust in our judiciary and judicial system. I seek to maintain a welcoming and respectful environment in my courtroom. While formality and decorum have their place, I believe justice is not served when the parties are afraid or intimidated. As the probate judge for the last five years, I have found it to be a particular passion. Many probate cases involve helping people through difficult times. I find great pleasure joining families together through adoption and helping those most vulnerable among us through my mental health court and guardianships and want to continue implementing positive changes to the probate court.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Experience matters. I have been a judge for 20 years and have presided over 70,000 cases.
• I have improved transparency and access to justice in the probate court by improving our help desk and initiating one of the first probate e-filing systems in the state.
• I have a special passion for adoption and have worked hard to increase public awareness about adoption in our community.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I believe in equality and justice for all. I believe courts should be accessible, open, and transparent. I strive to decide cases fairly and without delay to build the public's trust in our judiciary and judicial system. I seek to maintain a welcoming and respectful environment in my court. While formality and decorum have their place, I believe justice is not served when the parties are afraid or intimidated. I also plan to continue to work toward having the most open and accessible court in Ohio. While in office, I initiated our e-filing system, allowing attorneys and members of the public to file cases online and pre-apply for marriage licenses. I have worked to modernize the court using technology to increase efficiency and access to justice. In my next term, I hope to achieve the goal of providing online access to every public case document in our court.

While in the criminal courts, I noticed a strong correlation between criminal recidivism and the presence (or absence) of strong family support. Thus, I believe in public policies that support and encourage the creation and maintenance of strong families and family support. As probate judge, I cherish the opportunity to help finalize adoptions and build strong families in our community.

I also believe in policies designed to help those most vulnerable among us. As probate judge, I do so through my mental health court and guardianships.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

There are many people that I look up to and admire, but by far the most influential people in my life have been my parents. Both of my parents were dedicated public servants and, among many things, they taught me the importance of family and community. My father served our country in the military before going to law school. He served our country as a federal prosecutor and as a trial court judge and appellate judge. He instilled in me a strong work ethic and a sense of great pride in our legal and judicial system. My mother was a passionate advocate first as the Parent-Teacher Organization president when I was young and ultimately as a member of our state legislature. My mother was a champion of compassionate policies, helping to pass laws allowing women who were pregnant and facing short jail terms to keep their babies and helping to update our adoptions laws. My compassion has certainly been inspired by witnessing hers.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

While there are many, I believe that some of the most important include honesty, integrity, humility, compassion, a strong work ethic, and a passion for public service and community. It is also of utmost importance to be patient and a good listener.

An elected official should also possess a strong sense of equality and justice and should be approachable and accessible to the public.

As an elected judicial official there is an added responsibility to decide cases fairly and without delay to build the public's trust in our judiciary and judicial system. I strongly believe that justice delayed is justice denied. I administer and adjudicate my cases both fairly and efficiently.

In addition, I believe I have a responsibility to educate the public about the courts and especially the probate court. I am fortunate to have many opportunities to do so speaking to a wide range of community organizations regularly.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

First and foremost, I have extensive experience both as a trial lawyer and as a judge, including serving as the incumbent probate judge since 2015. I have a proven track record of deciding cases fairly and impartially and I fully believe in deciding cases on the merits whenever possible. Personally, I am compassionate, thoughtful, and measured. I have a calming demeanor and am able to maintain a respectful environment in my courtroom that permits all parties to be heard.

These same personality characteristics and traits apply well to managing approximately 40 probate court employees and I have created an open and collegial work environment.

If you could be any fictional character, who would you want to be?

Mr. Rogers from Mr. Rogers Neighborhood. He was kind, fair, compassionate and accepting.

Are there any little-known powers or responsibilities held by this office that you believe more people should be aware of?

Ohio probate courts have many unique functions and in fact, my experience has been that many people in the general public have little knowledge about what the probate court does. Some of the primary functions of the probate court include:

overseeing the administration of a person's probate assets after they pass away;
resolving disputes involving trusts;
finalizing adoptions;
appointing guardians for minors and for adults who are incompetent;
approving wrongful death settlements;
granting legal name changes;
deciding mental health cases;
and issuing marriage licenses.

Ohio probate courts have many other responsibilities such as making appointments to administrative bodies including appointing members of the board that oversees the county park system. In Hamilton County, the probate judge is also the administrative judge of the probate court and oversees approximately 40 employees.

How would you describe your legal philosophy?

I believe in equality and justice for all. I believe courts should be accessible, open, and transparent. I strive to decide cases fairly and without delay to build the public's trust in our judiciary and judicial system. I seek to maintain a welcoming and respectful environment in my court. While formality and decorum have their place, I believe justice is not served when the parties are afraid or intimidated. I enjoy joining families together through adoption. I believe in helping those most vulnerable among us through my mental health court and guardianships.

Why are you running for this particular court seat?

I am running for reelection to the probate court because I love this job and I love serving the public. The probate court is unique in that many of our cases involve helping people through their most difficult times. I have found my true passion in probate court and want to continue implementing positive changes to adoptions, guardianships, and mental health cases. I also plan to continue to work toward having the most open and accessible court in Ohio. While in office, I initiated our e-filing system, allowing attorneys and members of the public to file cases online and to initiate marriage license applications. I have worked hard to modernize the court using technology to increase efficiency and access to justice. In my next term, I hope to achieve the goal of providing online access to every public case document in our court.

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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See also

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External links

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Candidate

Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas Probate Division

Website

Twitter

Footnotes

Ohio courts

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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