FLINT, Michigan — Both major political parties will meet in Michigan on Saturday to select nominees for the State Supreme Courtwhere campaigns were launched for two vacant seats, with majority control of the tribunal at stake.
One candidate who qualifies for Republican support is a lawyer Matthew DePernowho rose to prominence after repeating false claims about the 2020 election and is accused of attempted illegally access and manipulate voting machines.
Michigan Supreme Court elections are officially nonpartisan, meaning that candidates run on the ballot without a party affiliation. However, nominees are chosen by a party convention.
Democratic-backed justices currently hold a 4-3 majority. Republican victories in both races would flip control of the court, while two Democratic victories would create a 5-2 supermajority.
Republicans have framed the races as a fight to stop government interference, while Democrats say it’s a fight to preserve reproductive rights. Michiganders have right to abortion in the state in 2022.
Republican delegates gathered in Flint will choose between DePerno, Detroit attorney Alexandria Taylor and U.S. District Court Judge Patrick O’Grady for the seat currently held by Judge Kyra Harris Bolden.
DePerno denies any wrongdoing in the voter tampering case and calls the prosecution politically motivated.
At the Democratic convention in Lansing, delegates are expected to nominate Bolden, who has no opponents and was appointed by Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer after another judge stepped down in 2022.
Bolden is the first Black woman to be appointed to the state’s highest court, and if she wins in November, she will be the first to be elected.
The other seat still open is currently held by conservatives backed by Republicans. Judge David Vivianowho announced in March that he would not seek re-election.
Appeals Court Judge Mark Boonstra and Rep. Andrew Fink are vying for the Republican nomination for that seat, while University of Michigan Law School professor Kimberly Ann Thomas is unopposed for the Democratic nomination.
The conventions herald what are almost certain to be competitive and expensive general election races. Candidates seeking Democratic endorsements have raised far more money than their counterparts on the other side, according to campaign finance reports.