CAMPBELL, Ohio (WKBN) – Voters have selected a candidate in a heated race for Campbell Municipal Court judge.

With just over 57% of the race, according to unofficial returns, Mark Kolmacic defeated Brian Macala for the position to succeed the retiring Judge Patrick Cunning.

“You know, I worked hard for this,” said Kolmacic. “I campaigned for this for several years, ran for this office several times — and finally, we were successful.”

It was a race in which both candidates traded complaints and accusations.

Macala, Campbell’s current law director, is facing misdemeanor charges in connection with his campaign for judge.

Police say Macala is accused of removing Kolmacic’s campaign literature and then replacing the paper with literature of his own. Police said the incident was caught on a home doorbell camera.

Macala is also under review by the Ohio Supreme Court for the way he handled an estate case in his private practice, where he admitted to signing another’s name.

Macala had admitted that he should not have done it but said the allegations did not involve any money and that there were certain points he was contesting, saying he intended to let the process proceed.

Macala said Kolmacic had his own issues, such as trying cases in front of his father when he was judge, despite what Macala says was an obvious conflict of interest.

“And it took the Supreme Court to step in and take the very unusual step of actually disciplining a sitting judge,” Macala previously told WKBN.

“I was not the focus of that investigation, and they found that there was no misconduct. So, with that said, I think that’s ancient history,” Kolmacic had responded.

This is the sixth time both men have faced each other for office and the eighth campaign for Kolmacic.

Kolmacic, whose father was the city’s first-elected judge, said he wanted to follow in his footsteps. He added that he has practiced law for 40 years.

Gerry Ricciutti contributed to this report.