Why you should care about this year’s Michigan Supreme Court election

Michiganders will soon decide who serves on the highest court in the state—and those two justices will have a hand in making some important decisions for the people of Michigan. 

MICHIGAN—Two seats on the state Supreme Court are up for grabs in this year’s elections, providing Michiganders a chance to decide the makeup of the most powerful court in the state—as well as who has the final say on some of the most important legal issues in Michigan.

Justice Kyra Harris Bolden, who was appointed to the bench in 2022 by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, is running to finish the remainder of former Chief Justice Bridget McCormack’s term. Justice David Viviano is also leaving the bench, and three candidates have emerged to fill his place.

With crucial decisions involving reproductive rights, abortion bans, gun safety laws, and election integrity all making their way to state supreme courts across the country in recent years, whoever wins will likely have a hand in making some big decisions for the people of Michigan.

Here’s the deal:

The Michigan Supreme Court is the highest legal authority in the state, and it wields the power to decide whether laws are constitutional and whether voter ballot initiatives can move forward. Decisions from the Michigan Supreme Court can only be overturned by the US Supreme Court.

In Michigan, the court consists of seven justices who are elected to eight-year terms. 

Unlike the US Supreme Court, where judges are appointed and (at least theoretically) expected to be non-partisan, state Supreme Court justices in Michigan are nominated by political parties and have a specific party affiliation—though that party affiliation is not displayed on the ballot. 

The Court currently leans Democratic, with four Democrats and three Republicans.

Here’s the make up: 

Democrat-Nominated Justices 

• Richard Bernstein
• Kyra Harris Bolden
• Megan Cavanagh 
• Elizabeth Welch 

Republican-Nominated Justices 

• Elizabeth Clement 
• David Viviano 
• Brian Zahra

Why is the court so important?

The Michigan Supreme Court has the power to interpret state laws and how they apply to Michiganders.

For example, in July 2022, the Court ruled that the state’s anti-discrimination law also applies to LGBTQ people. And after a ballot initiative to enshrine reproductive rights into the state Constitution was initially blocked by Republicans on the state Board of Canvassers, the Michigan Supreme Court stepped in and decided that the initiative should be left to a vote.

That decision was ultimately the only reason why Michiganders had the right to decide on issues like abortion access (and expanded voting accessibility) on the ballot in November 2022.

Last year, the Court also decided that ex-President Donald Trump should remain on the presidential election ballot this year, despite his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the US Capitol. And this year, the Court is set to weigh in on a legal battle over raising the state minimum wage.

Democrats and Republicans are likely to rule differently on different subjects. And recent decisions in other states have shown just how powerful a role state supreme courts play. 

In Arizona, for instance, the state Supreme Court recently upheld a 160-year-old law that banned all abortions unless the patient’s life was in danger. In Alabama, a decision from the state Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos were people (temporarily) caused IVF providers to stop offering services in the state. The Florida Supreme Court also recently decided to uphold a 15-week abortion ban, a decision that will also allow a six-week ban to go into effect on May 1.

As other lawsuits about abortion care in Michigan make their way through the court system, more questions of reproductive freedom may find their way in front of these seven justices. 

The elections could also impact presidential elections as Republicans continue to undermine the state’s election systems. In 2020, for instance, Michigan’s Democratic-leaning state Supreme Court decided not to hear a legal challenge to the state’s presidential election results—instead concluding based on a mountain of evidence that President Joe Biden had won Michigan.

Who is running this year?

So far, seven candidates are seeking nominations for two seats on the state Supreme Court—and either party could take them. The candidate filing deadline is July 4. Absentee ballots will be available on Sept. 26 and early, in-person voting begins on Oct. 26. 

The general election is Nov. 5. 

Kyra Harris Bolden

Kyra Harris Bolden, a former state representative from Southfield and the first Black woman to serve on the Michigan Supreme Court, was appointed to replace McCormack in 2022 and is running as a Democrat to serve the remainder of McCormack’s term, which expires in 2029.

She is currently serving in her second year on the court and “remains committed to ensuring equal access to justice, applying the law without fear or favor, and treating all who come before our state’s highest court with dignity and respect,” according to her campaign website. 

As a former member of the state House of Representatives, and the only justice with legislative experience, Bolden is openly pro-choice and pro-labor. She also crafted (and passed) five bipartisan bills focused on criminal justice reform and protecting survivors or sexual violence.

Bolden graduated from Grand Valley State University and the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law, has worked as an attorney in southeast Michigan, and was reportedly inspired to pursue law after she learned the story of her great-grandfather, who was lynched in Tenesee in 1939.

She’s also a member of the Association of Black Judges of Michigan, the Wolverine, Straker , and Oakland County bar associations, and the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. Bolden has also received several awards—including the NAACP’s Ida B. Wells Freedom and Justice Award.

Matt DePerno

Matt DePerno is a former Republican candidate for state Attorney General who was criminally charged for accessing and tampering with voting machines in Michigan after the 2020 election. He’s one of three candidates seeking the Republican nomination to run against Bolden. 

Since losing the election to Attorney General Dana Nessel and then failing in his bid to become chairman of the Michigan GOP last year, DePerno has kept up his reputation as a relentless election denier, conspiracy theorist, and long-time supporter of ex-President Donald Trump.

His latest campaign announcement was posted to Twitter last month. 

“After watching the abuse of our legal system both here in Michigan, as well as across the country, it is clear that the Michigan Supreme Court needs members that are committed to following the constitution and rule of law,” DePerno wrote. “Activist judges, prosecutors, and attorney generals are using their power to prosecute their political enemies. This has to stop.”

DePerno (alongside other Republicans) was arraigned last summer on charges of undue possession of a voting machine and conspiracy after five vote tabulators were allegedly taken from three Michigan counties and illegally brought to a hotel room, where Republicans then broke into them to perform a series of “tests” on the equipment, according to court records.

DePerno was named as a “prime instigator” in that case, which has not yet gone to trial. Because Nessel ran against DePerno in 2022, her office requested—and was granted—a special prosecutor in the case, which has contributed to ongoing delays in prosecution. 

Depending on how the case shakes out, however, it could pose an obstacle to DePerno’s candidacy—and any eventual tenure on the Court. A state judge has ruled that it is a felony, punishable by five years in prison, to take a voting machine without a court order or permission.

DePerno, for his part, has denied any wrongdoing as the case proceeds. 

Patrick O’Grady 

Patrick O’Grady, a longtime circuit court judge in Branch County, is also seeking the Republican nomination for the partial term vacated by McCormack and currently held by Bolden.

O’Grady is a US Army Reserve veteran, a former Michigan State Police trooper, and a former assistant Branch County prosecutor who was first elected to 15th Circuit Court bench in 2008 and has since presided over nearly 14,000 criminal and civil cases, Bridge Michigan reports. 

O’Grady reportedly decided to seek the Republican nomination after consulting with state GOP Chair Pete Hoekstra, and has promised to act as a “rule of law” judge if he’s elected in November.

“I will prioritize governance rooted in the letter of our laws,” he said in a recent campaign statement. “I will protect the rights of all and make Michigan safe for our families and our future.”

Alexandria Taylor

Detroit attorney Alexandria Taylor is also competing against DePerno and O’Grady for the Republican nomination for the partial term, with plans to face off against Bolden in November. 

Taylor earned her law degree from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law, clerked for former Michigan Supreme Court Justice Marilyn Kelly, and has reportedly represented the cities of Woodhaven and Allen Park as a city attorney while working at a law firm in Royal Oak.

Nowadays, Taylor operates her own Detroit-based law practice, Taylor Law Firm, and since 2015 has served as an adjunct professor at University of Detroit Mercy, reports Bridge Michigan.

If elected, Taylor reportedly hopes to “uphold the values of family, faith, and freedom for a stronger and more just America” and would be a “voice for justice and integrity” on the bench.

She also spoke out against the state’s clean energy plans at a recent candidate forum. 

Kimberly Ann Thomas

Kimberly Ann Thomas is a law professor at the University of Michigan Law School and director of the Juvenile Justice Clinic, where she and law students represent people who can’t afford lawyers. She also teaches students about legal ethics and provides support for Michigan youth.

She’s seeking the Democratic nomination to replace Viviano, with plans to “bring a new voice of integrity and fairness” to the state Supreme Court—“grounded in her knowledge applying the law and dedication to equal justice for all Michiganders,” according to her campaign website.

Thomas studied at the University of Maryland and received her law degree from Harvard Law School. She has also taught law at the collegiate level in Ireland, and was the recipient of a Fulbright Scholar award. 

More recently, she also served on the state’s Task Force on Juvenile Justice Reform, which took a data-driven approach to recommend ways to help improve the state’s juvenile justice system.

Thomas’ experience representing low-income Michiganders and teaching students legal ethics will help her “bring a voice of integrity and knowledge” to the state Supreme Court and ensure “access to justice and that each litigant is heard and respected,” her campaign website states.

The Michigan Democratic Party has endorsed both Bolden and Thomas. 

Mark Boonstra

Mark Boonstra, a Michigan Court of Appeals judge, is one of two Republicans candidates who are vying for the Republican nomination to replace Viviano in the November general election.

Boonstra grew up in West Michigan, received his bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University, and earned his law degree from the University of Michigan. He has also worked as a private practice attorney, in addition to a two-year term on the Michigan Court of Claims.

According to his campaign website, Boonstra bills himself as a “Rule-of-Law Judge” who has authored “more than 1,000” judicial opinions that touch on “every area” of state law. During his tenure, he has also demonstrated conservative views, including opposition to LGBTQ rights.

In 2022, Boonstra drew the ire of nearly 20 organizations—including Equality Michigan and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Michigan—when he flatly refused to use a defendant’s preferred pronouns, writing in an opinion that he declined “to join in the insanity that has apparently now reached the courts,” according to reports from Michigan Advance. 

That incident reportedly became a catalyst for subsequent rule changes in Michigan courts preventing judges from purposely misgendering defendants, litigants, attorneys, and others.

Boonstra’s campaign website also promises voters more of the same: “He has a proven track record, not only of scholarship, but as a consistent and reliable Rule-of-Law judge, and you can count on him to continue to provide the same service on the Michigan Supreme Court.”

In 2020, Boonstra penned a fiery rant to Whitmer over the state’s pandemic-related safety measures. He has also reportedly authored several books lamenting the decline of Christianity.

Andrew Fink

State Rep. Andrew Fink (R-Adams Township) opted against running for a third term in the state Legislature this year to instead pursue a Republican nomination for the state Supreme Court. 

Although he initially planned to run against Bolden for the partial term, he now plans to seek the Republican nomination to run for Vivano’s empty seat on the bench, Bridge Michigan reports.

He’s running “because our justice system needs to be focused on the law” and because he felt compelled by a “sacred duty” to uphold the Constitution, according to Fink’s campaign website.

His campaign website doesn’t mention any specific issues beyond a broad commitment to “defending our rights” and “to our constitutional freedoms and structure of government.”

“I am ready to take the oath of office and do justice under law,” his website states.

During his time in the Legislature, Fink sponsored legislation to ban abortion after fetal viability, reports the Coldwater Daily Reporter. The bill failed to advance under Democratic leadership.

He also sponsored legislation that would have reportedly created a legal loophole in the state’s newly expanded civil rights laws, namely by allowing for discrimination against LGBTQ people—just as long as that discrimination aligned with the practice of a religion. 

Fink is a member of the National Rifle Association and has a history of raising questions about the 2020 presidential election results. He also has a bachelor’s degree from Hillsdale College and a law degree from the University of Michigan.

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated and corrected to reflect new information that was recently presented to The ’Gander Newsroom by Fink. That information confirms Fink was not in attendance at a “Stop the Steal” rally at the state Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, as had been previously reported here and elsewhere. We regret the error.

READ MORE: What does the Michigan Supreme Court do?

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Editor’s Note: This story was updated to include details about additional candidates.