Ten years ago with the election of Barack Obama to the highest office in the nation, it might have seemed strange that a decade later the election of a black woman to the Ohio State Supreme Court would be considered an “amazing” result. But “amazing” is just what basketball star and Ohio native LeBron James called the election of Judge Melody Stewart, the first black woman elected to the Ohio Supreme Court in the state’s history. Anyone following the often race-based divisiveness that dominates the current political landscape can’t be surprised that the Melody Stewart victory is deemed “amazing” by James. Even Barack Obama would no doubt agree, despite his having won Ohio twice on his way to the presidency.
AMAZING!!! Congrats Judge Melody Stewart. #ChangeWillCome https://t.co/6uLDnrUMbV
— LeBron James (@KingJames) November 7, 2018
James has been increasingly high profile in standing up on political issues, vocally backing Colin Kaepernick in his controversial national anthem protest for example. James even drew the ire of President Trump on Twitter. (James’s response was basically: doesn’t the POTUS have better things to do than tweeting at me? James had called the president a “bum.”)
Judge Stewart was elected to the court along with fellow Democrat Michael Donnelly, putting two cracks in the longstanding Republican domination of the Ohio Supreme Court. Republicans still outnumber Dems on the court 5-2. LeBron James knows what that’s like, unfortunately. His Cleveland Cavaliers teams consistently made it to the NBA Finals in three of the last four years, only to watch James look like he was playing five against two most of the time, with the talent-loaded Golden State Warriors beating the Cavs three out of four times.
Judge Stewart is honored to have received the endorsement of @clevelanddotcom/The Plain Dealer! https://t.co/fyLM7zC2KI #Stewart4OhioSC
— Melody Stewart for Ohio Supreme Court (@Stewart4OhioSC) October 19, 2018
