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March 31st, 2024 Len’s Political Note #632 Michigan Supreme Court – Reelect Kyra Harris Bolden and Elect Kimberly A. Thomas
2024 General Election
Kyra H. Bolden. Kimberly A. Thomas
Michigan has a seven-member Supreme Court. Four of the Justices are Democrats. Three are Republicans. To run for the Supreme Court a candidate must be nominated by a political party. For the most part, that means a nomination by either the Republicans or the Democrats. In at least one instance unrelated to any of the current justices, a justice was elected after creating a political party just for the purpose of getting himself nominated and then elected; which he did. Whether nominated by the Republicans or the comes by way of a convention and the election is non-partisan. In the November general election, candidates are not identified by party. They are identified in a way that gives incumbents an advantage. Members of the Supreme Court are identified on the ballot as Members of the Supreme Court.
Two justices are up for election in 2024. Republican David Viviano and Democrat Kyra Harris Bolden. David Viviano is 52 years old. He was last re-elected to the Court in 2016. He decided to serve out his eight year term and then not run for re-election.
Democrat Kyra Harris Bolden is 35 years old. She was appointed by Governor Whitmer to replace Justice Mary McCormick in November 2022. When a vacancy arises, as it did in the case of Justice Mary McCormick’s retirement, there is no mandatory check on the Governor’s Supreme Court appointments. In Governor Whitmer’s case, she asks those interested in being appointed to the courts to complete an application and questionnaire prior to the deadline for any appointment. The State Bar’s Judicial Qualifications Committee completes a review. Candidates for interview are selected by the Governor’s Office. The Governor makes the appointment.
The single check on the Governor’s appointment is the requirement that an appointee be considered for election at the next general election. Justice Kyra Harris Bolden will be on the ballot in November, 2024. She will have the advantage of being identified as a sitting Associate Justice. That does not mean she cannot be defeated. Sitting Justices have been defeated in Michigan. Usually not, though.
Kyra Harris Bolden is the first Black woman to sit on the Michigan Supreme Court. Before her appointment, she was a state representative from Southfield. Southfield is a city of roughly 75,000 people who are, if there is no traffic, an 18-minute drive north west of Detroit. 70% of the people of Southfield are Black. 20% are White. The median household income is $52,000. The median family income is $64,500. Almost 40% of adults in Southfield have a Bachelor’s Degree. This is not a wealthy town, but it is not poverty-stricken. Many are white-collar workers. About 100 of the Fortune 500 companies have offices in Southfield.
Kyra Harris Bolden was a particularly effective bi-partisan legislator. She worked on legislation to protect survivors of sexual violence, to compensate those who were wrongfully imprisoned, and to provide support to “medically frail” prisoners.
Kyra Harris Bolden went away from home for her BA, just not too far away. She went to Grand Valley State University in Allendale, west of Grand Rapids. Her JD is from the University of Detroit’s Mercy School of Law. Her family memories are something else.
Jesse Lee Bond’s 1939 lynching in Arlington, Tennessee is burned into the collective memory of her family. Bond had offended the owner of a feedstore when he asked for a receipt for the supplies he had purchased. In response, several white men found him, shot him, dragged him away, castrated him, and threw him in the Hatchie River. Astonishingly, two men were tried for the crime. They were acquitted, of course.
Whether the white men’s families remember the incident with pride or shame was no matter to the members of Jesse Lee Bond’s family. Bond’s family and their descendants remember the lynching with anger and with a great need to commemorate Bond and what happened.
As successful as Kyra Harris Bolden was in mastering the ways of the legislature, her initial experience in the chambers of Michigan’s Supreme court was complicated. Fellow Democratic justice Richard Bernstein was furious and disgusted when Kyra Harris Bolden hired Pete Martel as a law clerk. Martel had been convicted of armed robbery and had spent fourteen years in prison. Bernstein announced that he and his fellow justice “did not share the same values;” her hiring Martel was not “fair to the police and the prosecutors who had convicted him.” Martel resigned and Bernstein, who is blind, apologized privately and publicly to Kyra Harris Bolden for his reaction, an apology she accepted.
When Kyra Harris Bolden faces the voters, it will be nearly two years since the controversy about her hiring Martel. Michigan Republicans have not yet identified an opponent for her. If she remains an associate justice of Michigan’s Supreme Court, Democrats will continue to have, at least, a 4-3 majority.
Republicans have two candidates who have expressed interest in the open Supreme Court seat. State Rep Andrew Fink, who had originally intended to run against Bolden has announced he will run for the seat with an eight-year term. So has Court of Appeals judge Mark Boonstra. Fink’s political campaigns have been largely supported by a power industry PAC. Boonstra, in a case about the prohibition of flavored nicotine pods for e-cigarettes, added his thoughts about the state’s response to Covid. “Totalitarianism has no place in America.”
Kimberly A. Thomas is the likely Democratic nominee for the eight-year term that is open as a result of Justice Viviano’s decision not to run again. Should she win election, Democrats would have a 5-2 majority on the Court.
Kimberly Thomas came to the University of Michigan Law School a little more than 20 years ago. Her BS was from Maryland; her JD from Harvard. Much of her practice after completing her law degree and clerkships was with the Defender Association of Philadelphia, a non-profit which combines legal representation with assistance in accessing social services to support reentry into civil society for the previously incarcerated. She would have approved of Kyra Harris Bolden’s decision to hire Pete Martel as a law clerk.
At the University of Michigan, Kimberly Thomas manages the Clinical Law Program and the Juvenile Justice Clinic. The Clinical Law Program created defense how-to kits for preliminary examinations, for obtaining deferrals, and more. Her specialties and her teaching include appellate practice, youth justice, and criminal sentencing law. She was appointed by Governor Whitmer to the Michigan Task Force on Juvenile Justice Reform and taught in Ireland temporarily on a Fulbright. She has done other international work – serving as an expert in the American Bar Association’s rule of law initiative in Jordan, Egypt, and Turkey. She helped develop curricula and experiential education in criminal law.
This is not too early. DONATE TO KYRA HARRIS BOLDEN and DONATE TO KIMBERLY A. THOMAS. Help Michigan to a 5-2 Democratic majority Supreme Court.
Other Michigan races
US Senate – Michigan
Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin is defending an open Democratic seat. A former CIA officer from a family that once owned one of America’s largest meat companies, she is a moderate among Democrats. A March poll found former Congressman Mike Rogers the most likely Republican candidate. He came out of retirement in Florida to run for the seat. Rogers does better in polls against Elissa Slotkin than other possible Republican candidates. They were even in one March poll; she led by 2 points in another. Elissa Slotkin had a lead in the money race at the end of 2023 with $6 million. Mike Rogers had just under a million dollars. Keep Elissa Slotkin ahead in a financial race where neither candidate has accumulated enough money for a race in a large industrial state. DONATE TO ELISSA SLOTKIN.
MI 07
Michigan 07. Had Incumbent Elissa Slotkin been the candidate for her old seat, she would have been #29 on Len’s list of Vulnerable Democratic Incumbents. Former State Senator Curtis Hertel makes the seat more vulnerable than that. Daily Kos’s List of vulnerable Democratic seats names Michigan 07 #1 in the country among those seats. A February poll found him behind for State Senator Tom Barrett by 7 points. As of October 1, Curtis Hertel had $600,000 available for campaigning; Tom Barrett was not far behind with $400,000. DONATE TO CURTIS HERTEL See Len’s Political Note #601
Michigan 08. Had retiring Incumbent Dan Kildee been the candidate, he would have been #37 on Len’s list of Vulnerable Democratic Incumbents. Mary McDonald Rivet (If she proves to be the Democratic nominee) will be more vulnerable than that. DONATE TO MARY MCDONALD RIVET. Help keep this seat Democratic. See Len’s Political Note #617
Nearby Races
Ohio Senator
Incumbent Sherrod Brown is generally considered one of the two most vulnerable Democratic Senators in 2024. Son of a doctor, he has become a popular figure for his blue-collar qualities and empathy. From mid-March until the primary, the polls the website 538 report found Brown leading multimillionaire businessman (car dealer) Bernie Moreno in the high single digits. At the end of February, Sherrod Brown had $13.5 million available. Bernie Moreno had $2.3 million in his campaign funds Individual candidate funds are a measure of enthusiasm as well as money. PACs are separate and less easy to report on. Moreno’s personal wealth is a factor for his available funds. Help ensure that Sherrod Brown stays in the Senate. DONATE TO SHERROD BROWN.
Ohio Supreme Court
Here is an opportunity, but a dangerous one. On the crucial issue of redistricting, prior ro the 2022 elections, because the about to retire Republican Chief Justice voted with the Democrats, Democrats has an effective 4-3 majority on that issue. Since the Ohio Supreme Court did not have the authority to enforce its opinion on districting, the 4-3 majority mattered little. In 2022, three Republican seats were up for election. All the Republicans won – leaving the Court with a genuine 4-3 Republican majority. In 2023, a referendum made the right to an abortion a part of Ohio’s constitution. Nevertheless, the 4-3 Republican majority will have some say in how that right is implemented as they would if a constitutional amendment creating an amendment to end gerrymandering were to pass in 2024.
In 2024, one Republican and two Democratic Supreme Court seats are up for election. If the two Democratic incumbents retain their seats and the seat now held by a Republican remains Republican, the make up of the court would continue to be 4-3 Republican. If, however, Republicans were to win all three elections, the court would be 6-1 Republican. If Democrats were to win all three elections, the court would become 4-3 Democratic.
Incumbent Democratic Justice Michael Donnelly has been on the Court since 2018 and has been in the minority on such issues as the legislature’s authority to take over local school districts and its authority to schedule a summer referendum to make passage of the abortion referendum in the fall more difficult. His opponent, Judge Megan Shanahan, complains of judges who “legislate from the bench.” DONATE TO JUSTICE MICHAEL DONNELLY.
Incumbent Democratic Justice Melody Stewart has been on the Court since 2018. She says her proudest moment on the Court was her dissent in favor of a man imprisoned for a crime he did not commit. Despite the Court’s opinion, assisted by the dissent, the man was exonerated. Her opponent is another associate Justice – Joe Deters who, if he ran for reelection to his post and won, would have to run again in two years instead of six if he defeats Melody Stewart. Deters’ closest political ally was also an ally of disgraced and convicted Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder. DONATE TO MELODY STEWART
Court of Appeals Judge Lisa Babish Forbes was a business litigator before becoming a judge. As a judge, she has been criticized, depending on the decision, from the left (on a natural resources issue) and the right (on an individual rights issue). Her opponent, Dan Hawkins, a judge and former prosecutor, is an advocate of keeping the bail system. He explains that even for the indigent, it is possible to rely on bail bondsmen to be free until trial. DONATE TO LISA BABISH FORBES
Wisconsin Senator
Incumbent Tammy Baldwin is running for her third term as Senator from Wisconsin. She grew up in Madison. Born to a teenage mother afflicted with mental health issues and opioid dependence who was going through a divorce, Tammy Baldwin was raised by her grandparents. She was valedictorian at Madison West High School and went to Smith College where she came out as gay. She earned a law degree from Wisconsin and wanted a career in politics, though was worried that her sexual orientation would have an adverse effect. She was elected to the County Board of Supervisors when she was 24, served a year on the Madison Common Council, was elected to two terms in the state assembly, and was elected to 7 terms in Congress. She had had a full political career even before she was elected to the US Senate.
Strongly progressive, Tammy Baldwin advocated for a single payer health system, urges stronger action by the FTC, and opposed the Iraq War. Her opponent is multimillionaire Eric Hovde. He and the Republicans believe his enormous resources, Milwaukee origin and real estate holdings offset his residence in California. He took a long time to decide whether or not to run, but now seems to be all in. A February poll found her leading by 8 points; a March poll found her leading by 3. She began 2024 with $8 million available to spend on her campaign. Hovde, who only announced recently, has not indicated what resources he has committed to his campaign. DONATE TO TAMMY BALDWIN. She will need to protect herself against a big spender.
Wisconsin Supreme Court
Seventy three year old Ann Walsh Bradley has announced that she will run for a fourth ten year term on Wisconsin’s Supreme Court. The election will occur until April 1, 2025, but it is not too early to begin thinking about it – as Ann Walsh Bradley has clearly done.
The contentiousness of the Wisconsin Supreme Court prior to Democrat Janet Protasiewicz’s election in the spring of 2023 and her term beginning on August 1 was a scandal. Ann Walsh Bradley had a physical altercation with Justice David Prosser over disparaging remarks he made about another justice and her insistence that he leave her chambers. Suffice to say, this former high school teacher, Justice Ann Walsh Bradley is passionate about her responsibilities. DONATE TO ANN WALSH BRADLEY
We have a presidential race to win
Support Joe Biden and Kamala Harris
As we look toward November, 2024, Help sustain the Joe Biden and Kamala Harris campaign. National head to head polls between March 21 and March 26 include 5 polls with Trump leading by 1 to 5 points and 4 polls with Biden leading by 1 to 4 polls. Every donation, large or small, makes a difference. Larger donations mean more money for the campaign. But large numbers of small donations are a measure of enthusiasm for the candidate. Make a small donation if you cannot afford a large one. DONATE TO JOE BIDEN AND KAMALA HARRIS. See Len’s Political Note #605
#14 in the Stephenson County, IL list of Biden accomplishments: Authorized the assassination of the Al Queda tgerrorist Ayman al-Zawahiri, who became head of the organization after the death of Osama bin Laden.
