Although some critics have detected a partisan flavor to the Ohio Supreme Court's ruling against Democratic Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner and in favor of Republican state Sen. Jon Husted, the record shows otherwise, a court spokesman said yesterday.

Last Tuesday, Supreme Court justices ruled unanimously that Husted lives in his Dayton-area district for voting purposes, a rebuke to Brunner's contention that Husted actually lives in Upper Arlington.

All seven justices are Republicans.

Any suggestion that the court has a partisan bias against Brunner isn't borne out by the facts, Supreme Court spokesman Chris Davey said in an e-mail.

Davey found that in the 11 cases in which Brunner was a party, the court ruled in her favor five times and against her six times.

Davey quoted Chief Justice Thomas J. Moyer: "The Supreme Court of Ohio's record in election-related matters involving Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner shows that the court has ruled on the facts and the law and, as the Ohio Constitution requires, 'without respect to persons.'

"The votes in these cases have varied widely from unanimous decisions to several 4-3 decisions where different justices have at various times been in the minority or the majority. And the end results have varied widely, at times resulting in outcomes that might be viewed as favorable to one political party and at other times resulting in outcomes that might be viewed as favorable to another."

-- James Nash jnash@dispatch.com