Magistrate, Hamilton County

Manisha Kotian is a Cincinnati lawyer with more than 30 years of experience who was recently sworn in as a magistrate in Hamilton County². Her career includes work with the Legal Aid Society of Greater Cincinnati and the Hamilton County Public Defender's office as a guardian ad litem for children, a solo family law and mediation practice since 1999, and ownership of a heavy highway concrete company from 2004 to 2024²³. She was a candidate for Domestic Relations judge in 2022³. She is on the November 3, 2026 ballot for the Common Pleas General Division unexpired term ending January 14, 2029¹. Ohio prints no party next to judicial candidates on the general election ballot, so this race is nonpartisan on the ballot.

• Magistrate, Hamilton County (recently sworn in, per her campaign site; court not specified there)²
• Solo practice from 1999: domestic relations, mediation and guardian ad litem work; trained mediator³²
• Guardian ad litem representing children, Hamilton County Public Defender's Office, 1997 to 1999; Legal Aid Society of Greater Cincinnati³²
• AmeriCorps attorney assisting domestic violence victims, Legal Aid of Western Missouri, 1994 to 1996; earlier attorney at Goldberg, Persky, Jennings & White (1992 to 1993) and Hammond & Associates (1996 to 1997)³
• Owner, Tri-State Concrete Construction, a union heavy highway concrete company, 2004 to 2024²
• JD, University of Pittsburgh (1992); BBA in Management and Marketing, University of Cincinnati (1989)³
• Not a sitting judge. Nominated in the Democratic primary for the 2026 election¹⁴.
• Bar poll: Cincinnati Bar Association 2026 Hamilton County Judicial Candidate Poll. The CBA describes it as a confidential, nonpartisan survey sent to its active attorney members (the results sheet says 2,500 members of the Cincinnati legal community); 170 members responded, rating only candidates they had contact with in the past four years, on six categories, with a stated margin of error of plus or minus 4 percent. It is a non-binding member survey of attorney opinion, not an endorsement or a rating by the bar association. For Manisha Kotian, 30 respondents reported contact. Of those, the share rating the candidate Excellent: administrative diligence 40%, communication skills 50%, community engagement 40%, integrity/impartiality/objectivity 43%, legal experience 50%, professionalism/temperament 43%. The share rating Below Average, in the same order: 13%, 17%, 20%, 17%, 23%, 13%⁵⁶.