Don’t Care About Judicial Races? Someday You May Wish You Had
Voting the non-partisan section of the November ballot can feel like a pointless exercise when the races aren’t competitive. For example, there are 18 incumbent judges in the 3rd Circuit Court running for re-election for 18 positions and two candidates vying for two positions on the 1st District Court of Appeals. In other judicial races, the problem is that unless we’ve had business in front of a particular judge, they’re just unfamiliar names on the ballot. I’m always tempted to skip that section altogether, but given the power that judges can have over people’s lives, we would do well to pay attention.
That’s why we’ll try to shed a little light here on the people behind the names for judicial races that are actually competitive. Although these contests are non-partisan, you can tell a lot about a candidate’s political perspective by the endorsements they receive. Here’s a list of candidates as they appear on the ballot and a partial list of endorsements for each. You can find out more about each one by clicking on their name.
According to the State of Michigan website, an “incumbent” position means a position held by a judge who is seeking reelection to their seat; “non-incumbent” position means a position held by a judge who is not seeking reelection to their seat, or the position is vacant.
Candidates for incumbent position on Michigan Supreme Court
Kimberly Ann Thomas
Endorsements : Michigan Democratic Party, 13 labor unions, Planned Parenthood
Andrew Fink
Endorsements: Right to Life of Michigan, Republican Michigan State Senator Dan Lauwers
Candidates for one incumbent partial term on Michigan Supreme Court
Patrick William O’Grady
Endorsements: Right to Life of Michigan, Former Republican Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich
Justice Kyra Harris Bolden
Endorsements: 12 labor organizations, Michigan Nurses Association Emily’s List
Candidates for a non-incumbent 6-year term on the 3rd Circuit Court
Adrienne G. Scruggs
Endorsements: 41 judges from various courts, Trade unions, Black Caucus of MI Democratic Party, Other Democratic-affiliated organizations
John Larkin
Endorsements: 25 judges from different courts, Police Officers Association of Michigan, Elected officials from western and Downriver suburbs
Candidates for 2 positions on Probate Court
Macie Gaines
Endorsements: 38 judges in various courts, Labor unions, Democratic-affiliated advocacy groups
Ron L. Haywood
Endorsements: UAW Region 1 and 1A, Black Slate, Other Democratic Party affiliated groups
Daniel L. Mercier
Candidate has no official campaign website with list of endorsements
Todd E. Briggs
Endorsements: 14 judges from various courts Michigan Associate for Justice
Candidates for 2 non-incumbent positions on 36th District Court
William Burton Jr.
Endorsements: Council of Black Pastors of Detroit & Vicinity Five judges Metro AFL-CIO
Malaika Ramsey-Heath
Endorsements: not listed on her campaign website
Andrea Bradley-Baskin
Endorsements: UAW Region I and IA Black Slate Spanish-Speaking Dems of Detroit
