One of Franklin County's longest-serving judges is leaving the Republican party, saying she no longer wants to be associated with what the party has become on a national level.

Common Pleas Judge Julie M. Lynch, who has been on the bench for 14 years, filed the paperwork with the county Board of Elections on Wednesday. The document declares that she will seek election to her next term, which would begin in 2023, as a Democrat.

"I've been a registered Republican since I was 18, and 41 years later I do not recognize the Republican Party as it is today," she said on Friday. "And I'm not the same person I was when I was 18."

She said her decision was not based on voting trends that have made it increasingly difficult for Republican candidates in Franklin County to win countywide election.

"That ebbs and flows," she said of voting trends. "When I started out, Republicans were dominant, but there were still Democratic judges. ... I've always had support from Democrats and Republicans and independents."

Judicial elections are considered nonpartisan in Ohio, with no party affiliation shown on the general-election ballot, but partisan primaries are held for Common Pleas Court judges, and candidates are endorsed and supported by political parties.

In November, Democrats won six of seven races for Franklin County Common Pleas Court. In 2017, Democrats won three of the four contested Municipal Court races in the county.

Brad Sinnott, a county Republican party chairman, said he doesn't believe that Lynch is leaving the party because of national politics.

"Here's the obvious truth: There are more Democratic voters in Franklin County than Republican voters," he said. "Everybody gets why she has now declared herself a Democrat. She thinks it's going to be an easier life."

County Democratic Party Chairman Michael Sexton said he has heard rumors that other Republican judges are considering changing their affiliation, but no one other than Lynch has reached out to him.

"Judge Lynch is an example of women voters in Franklin County who are frustrated with and are abandoning the Republican party," he said. "It was clear to me that she is upset about the direction of the party led by President Trump."

Lynch, a Gahanna resident, said she "can't articulate all the things that are disturbing to me, because that would not be appropriate for a judge. I'll let my action speak louder than my words."

Lynch, 59, a former Whitehall city attorney and council member, was first elected to the Common Pleas Court in 2004. She was re-elected to six-year terms in 2010 and 2016.

Only one of the 17 Common Pleas Court judges has more seniority than Lynch, but just barely. She and Republican Judge Michael J. Holbrook were elected in November 2004, but Holbrook's term began one day before Lynch's.

Holbrook conceded on Friday that "it can be tough being a Republican candidate with what's going on nationally. We get lumped in with that, but we have noting to do with the national Republican Party."

However, he said, he has no plans to change his party affiliation.

"That's never crossed my mind," Holbrook said.

jfutty@dispatch.com

@johnfutty