Democrats from Cleveland swept the two Ohio Supreme Court seats that were on Tuesday’s midterm ballot, breaking the Republican lock on the state's highest court.

Appellate Judge Melody Stewart and Judge Michael Donnelly of the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court won their races. Donnelly beat Judge Craig Baldwin of Newark, a Republican who sits on the Fifth District Court of Appeals in Ohio, 61 percent to 39 percent.

Donnelly ran on a platform of more transparency in the courtroom and correcting a "justice gap," where individuals with lower incomes face significant barriers to accessing the legal system.

Stewart, who sits on Ohio’s Eighth District Court of Appeals, beat Justice Mary DeGenaro of Poland, a Republican appointed to the state’s highest court in January. Stewart won 53 percent to 47 percent.

Stewart is the first African-American Democrat to be elected statewide in Ohio.

DeGenaro was appointed to the seat in January when Democrat Bill O'Neil stepped down to make a run for governor. The second seat opened because Justice Terrence O'Donnell cannot seek re-election due to his age. Justices cannot take the oath of office after reaching 70.

Both Donnelly and Stewart are graduates of Cleveland State University's Cleveland-Marshall College of Law.

Supreme Court candidates file as Republicans or Democrats but the party label doesn't appear on general election ballots.

Republicans currently hold all seven seats on the Supreme Court, which has final authority over the Ohio Constitution and state law.