[12][13] She was treasurer of a citizens group that attacked the financial reports related to a Westerville, Ohio school district tax levy on the November 1988 ballot.

[31] In 1998, she successfully represented House Rep. Charleta Tavares when her petition signatures were challenged during her candidacy to replace J. Kenneth Blackwell as Ohio Secretary of State.

[32][33] In 1994, she represented the Delaware County Amphitheater Action Committee, a group that attempted to block the state Liquor Department from issuing a beer permit.

[43] In addition to the court proceedings, the citizens sought the attention of the City Council in attempt to preserve the neighborhood by keeping the video store from being converted into a McDonald's.

[44] On April 7, 1995, Brunner gained a verdict for her clients that in the interest of avoiding traffic congestion and pedestrian dangers, the McDonald's would not be allowed to build.

[57][58][59][60] She successfully represented Franklin County Democratic Party Chairman Dennis White in a 1996 case about whether his primary campaign mailings violated Ohio election laws.

[85] During the same election period, she represented Mark L. Mallory in a similar ad campaign battle when he unseated State Senator Janet Howard.

[89] However, a disciplinary panel of the Ohio Supreme Court recommended Stark County Common Pleas judge candidate Elizabeth Burick to pay a $5,000 fine for actions that "demeans the judiciary".

[95][96] The voters failed the proposal before the Franklin County prosecutors decided whether to take actions following the Ohio Election Commission's determination that the ads were false.

[100] Brunner, who was making her first run for elective office, opposed incumbent John F. Bender who had been appointed by Governor Taft in April 2000 to replace the retiring James J.

[141] In September 2007, Brunner announced extensive efforts to identify and correct serious problems with the security and reliability of voting machines in time for the March 4, 2008 Ohio Democratic and Republican primaries.

[1] Brunner worked with Ohio's 88 county boards of elections and thousands of poll workers to ensure record voter turnout in the March presidential primaries.

She issued the following directive on the matter: "We want Ohio's voters and the rest of the nation to see that we have prepared a transparent process of transporting voting equipment, ballots and supplies.

[143] On August 13, 2008, Brunner ordered county election board officials to establish procedures to enable voters who register to be immediately issued an absentee ballot.

[155] United States district court judge James Gwin in Cleveland, Ohio also ruled against the Republicans and issued a restraining order to enforce Brunner's plan.

In Columbus, Ohio, U.S. District Judge George Smith declined to rule on another statewide challenge, deferring to the state Supreme Court's decision.

The normal roster of Ohio Supreme Court jurists is all Republican and the lone Democrat replacement, William H. Wolff Jr., cast the tie-breaking vote.

[143] Between January 1, 2008, and mid-October 2008, over 666,000 Ohioans registered to vote either for the first time or with updated voter information, and over 200,000 of them provided driver's licenses or Social Security numbers that do not match government records.

[164] The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, in a 9-6 decision, ruled against Brunner on October 14, 2008, in deciding that extra steps must be taken to authenticate these registrants and Jeffrey Sutton's majority opinion suggested that these misregistered voters cast provisional ballots.

This issue is considered to be a partisan one with Republicans favoring greater scrutiny, and the justices voted almost along party lines based on the United States President that appointed them.

Rather, the Court ruled that Congress had likely not authorized private individuals or political parties to bring suit under the section of HAVA requiring voter registration verification through data-matching.

1:08-cv-02266 (N.D. Ohio), Judge Garvin enjoined the Madison County Board of Elections from adhering to its September 5 announcement that it would disregard Secretary Brunner's directives to issue an absentee ballot to anyone who has not already been registered for 30 days.

The Board had threatened an action that the judge determined would violate Section 202 of the Voting Rights Act causing irreparable injury to registered voters who will be unable to receive absentee ballots.

In January, rumors that were eventually confirmed began circulating that second term Republican United States Senator George Voinovich would not run for re-election in 2010.

[187][188][189] On January 23, 2009, Brunner and Ohio Lieutenant Governor Lee Fisher met to discuss the possibility that either of them would run, but did not confirm any decision or leanings to the media.

[192] In September 2009, DSCC Chairman Bob Menendez, who supported Fisher and had been trying to clear the field for him,[193] stated he would actively work against any underfunded candidate, in which Brunner eventually responded "I'm not scared of you" at a fundraiser in Washington D.C. in December of that year.

[207] In a virtual news conference on September 13, 2021, Brunner released a campaign platform that includes support for a statewide criminal sentencing database, a proposal for a permanent Commission on Fairness and Equality in Ohio’s Courts and Legal System, expansion of specialized dockets like drug courts, and what the Cleveland Plain Dealer called "good-government reforms.

"[208] At the general election held on November 8, 2022, she was defeated by her Republican opponent, fellow associate justice Sharon Kennedy, in a landslide, winning less than 44% of the vote.

Brunner also served as an adviser to Serbian misdemeanor court judges on outreach strategies to rebuild the public's confidence in elections systems.

[221] Brunner assumed office in 2007 and ordered paper ballots be provided to any voter who requested one in the March 2008 primary and called for the replacement of all the state's electronic voting systems by the November 2008 presidential election.