(ONN) – The races for the seats on the Ohio Supreme Court could be extremely consequential.

Ohio is among only a few states where voters could flip partisan control of their state supreme court.

That’s because three seats are on the ballot this year.

Right now, the court is a four to three Republican majority.

But, if Democrats win all three seats, they would hold the court’s majority for the first time in more than 40 years.

Political expert David Niven with the University of Cincinnati says who ends up winning those seats will have a major impact on keeping state lawmakers in check.

“These are incredibly consequential races. We’re talking about basically whether the legislature can do whatever it wants or whether the legislature is going to have to behave and follow the Ohio Constitution.”

WFIN recently spoke with incumbent Justice Michael Donnelly, a Democrat, and his challenger, Hamilton County Judge Megan Shanahan, a Republican. 

Click here for that story.