For the second time this year, Victor Pontious was victorious Tuesday in an election for Washington Court House Municipal Court Judge.
Back in the May during the Republican primary, Pontious defeated Susan Wollscheid, and at Tuesday’s general, Pontious again came out on top – this time over local attorney Steve Eckstein – by a 2,835 (59.71 percent) to 1,913 (40.29 percent) margin, according to unofficial results from the Fayette County Board of Elections.
“The word ‘hallelujah’ comes to mind,” Pontious said with relief after the results were released. “I really appreciate each vote I received today. I feel very blessed to live and work in this community. I want to thank my Christian friends for their prayers and encouragement during the election season. It is a real privilege to serve my community as a judge and I appreciate the opportunity to try to be a fair and effective judge. Also, I work with a really nice group of people and I’m very happy that I’m going to continue that work.”
Pontious acknowledged that a little bit of stress comes with campaigning for two elections in a year.
“It seemed like a really long process to me,” he said. “Usually times goes pretty fast, but I’ve been wanting this day to get over with as soon as possible.”
With this election win, Pontious earns his fifth term as Washington Municipal Court Judge. Each term is a six-year period.
One of many things Pontious is proud of during his tenure is the implementation an evidence-based cognitive behavioral therapy called Thinking for a Change.
He said the ODRC has shared how the court uses the behavioral therapy with other courts throughout Ohio.
“We have been awarded by the ODRC. I see it as, they’re looking at us and saying, ‘You’re doing great’ but I think we need to stay in front of that and keep working with that and also, work with other community groups. I like the idea of working with the prevention, the offensive team, the schools, the churches. And of course we’re working with law enforcement, we talk with law enforcement every day about these things. And of course treatment. So the court actually works with all three, and I think the court has an important role with all three,” said Pontious in an earlier interview with the Record-Herald.
Eckstein campaigned on a “change candidate” platform leading up to the election. Eckstein served 12 years as the Fayette County Prosecuting Attorney, three years as an Assistant Attorney General representing Ohio in federal courts and five years as the assistant court administrator in the largest court in the state of Ohio – the Franklin County Municipal Court.
