LANSING, Mich. (Legal Newsline) – Michigan’s main business organization recommends that Chief Justice Bridget McCormack keeps her seat on the state Supreme Court.
The Michigan Chamber of Commerce says McCormack will help the court foster a predictable legal climate. Though the justices are officially nonpartisan, they are nominated by political parties.
McCormack was nominated by Democrats and won election in 2012 with 23.59% of the vote. She is a former law professor and dean at University of Michigan Law School.
"Michigan Chamber members are focused on electing candidates who will ensure Michigan has a fair and balanced Supreme Court," said Arny Rodriguez, Michigan Chamber Political Action Committee Chair and President and CEO, Technical Professional Services, Inc.
"With so many important and complicated issues coming before the Court, voters need confidence that those ruling on precedent-setting cases are dedicated public servants' whose only intent is to be fair and impartial.”
The Michigan Chamber recommends the Dem-nominated McCormack despite the usual perception that business groups prefer Republican jurists. Currently, the makeup of the court is four GOP-nominated justices and three from Democrats.
If voters don’t want to back McCormack, the chamber recommends two GOP nominees – Court of Appeals judge Brock Swartzle and prosecutor Mary Kelly.
In addition to McCormack’s seat, voters will need to pick a replacement for Justice Stephen Markman, who can’t run again because he is more than 70 years old. He was elected in 2012 after nomination by Republicans.
Democrats again picked McCormack, as well as Grand Rapids attorney Elizabeth Welch.
With support from business and Democrats, it seems likely McCormack will be elected, boiling the election down to Welch vs. the two GOP nominees for McCormack’s seat.
Welch handles employment law, working with companies and nonprofits to ensure their compliance with wage and hour laws and the Family and Medical Leave Act, among other issues.
Kelly was a prosecutor for more than 30 years in St. Clair County, and Swartzle has been on the Court of Appeals since 2017.