Minnesota state Supreme Court welcomes back two Justices

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (Legal Newsline) - The Minnesota Supreme Court will welcome back incumbent justices Lorie Skjerven Gildea and Paul Anderson following their wins in Tuesday's elections.

Gildea, appointed by Gov. Tim Pawlenty in 2006 and facing voters for the first time, carried 55 percent of the vote with over 60 percent of the precincts reporting. Her opponent, Hennepin County District Judge Deborah Hedlun, took the other 45 percent of the vote.

The 47-year-old Gildea, heavily endorsed by the state's legal community, has been a litigator for most of her career as an associate general counsel for the University of Minnesota from 1993-2004 and with the private Arent Fox firm in Washington D.C from 1986-1993. She also served briefly as a Hennepin County district judge and an assistant county attorney.

Gildea earned her Juris Doctor degree magna cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center in Washington D.C. in 1986 and her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Minnesota in 1983. She was elected to the Order of the Coif while in law school and served as an editor of the American Criminal Law Review.

Anderson received 60 percent of the vote. His opponent, Tim Tingelstad, a family court magistrate from northwestern Minnesota running on an openly religious platform, was making his second attempt at being elected to the state Supreme Court.

The 64-year-old Anderson has served on the Supreme Court since 1994. Two years prior to that, he was chief judge of the Minnesota Court of Appeals and was an associate and partner with the LeVander, Gillen & Miller Law Offices in South St. Paul from 1971-1992.

Anderson earned his B.A. Degree, cum laude, from Macalester College in 1965 and his J.D. from the University of Minnesota in 1968.