Michigan Supreme Court Election
The Michigan Supreme Court is the court of last resort for all of the state’s civil and criminal matters and serves as a check on the state’s two other branches of government. In recent years, the court has issued crucial decisions that have impacted voting rights and election integrity, criminal justice, LGBTQ+ rights, environmental protections, civil liberties, workers, public schools, tenants, and gun control.
Michigan needs Kyra Harris Bolden and Kimberly Ann Thomas on the Michigan Supreme Court.
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Incumbent Justice Kyra Harris Bolden.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) appointed Bolden to the court in 2022 to fill the vacancy left by Chief Justice Bridget Mary McCormack. She is the first Black woman to serve on the state’s highest court. She must run in a special election in 2024 to fill the remainder of the term, which expires in 2029. She was previously a criminal defense lawyer and a two-term member of the Michigan House of Representatives, where she sat on the Judiciary Committee and crafted five bipartisan bills focused on criminal justice reform and protecting survivors of sexual violence, which are now law. Since becoming a member of the court, she has joined the court’s majority in important opinions that have protected Michigan’s environment, workers, and LGBTWQ+ Michiganders.
Justice Bolden’s opponent, Andrew Fink, is a Republican member of the Michigan House of Representatives, where he voted to reinstate Michigan’s 1931 ban on abortion. He is endorsed by Michigan Right to Life and Citizens for Traditional Values PAC, which opposes the The Voting Rights Act. And he openly questions the results of the 2020 election.
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For the Open Seat: Kimberly Thomas
Kimberly Thomas is a professor at the University of Michigan School of Law and the co-founder and director of the university’s Juvenile Justice Clinic, where she and her students represent juveniles in the criminal justice system who cannot afford criminal representation. She also previously served on the bipartisan Michigan Task Force on Juvenile Justice Reform.
Professor Thomas’s opponent is Patrick O’Grady, a judge of the Branch County Circuit Court. He is endorsed by Michigan Right to Life and Citizens for Traditional Values PAC, which opposes the The Voting Rights Act. He has also received the endorsement of Newt Gingrich, a Republican former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. O’Grady has supported a ban on abortion that would not include exceptions for survivors of rape and incest.
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Justice Kyra Harris Bolden joined the court’s majority to consistently issue rulings that have protected the rights of tenants, parents, voters, and workers and sought justice for victims of gun violence and people wrongfully accused of crimes. Kimberly Thomas has spent her career fighting for marginalized groups and will join Bolden in protecting the rights of all Michiganders. AFJ Action recommends Justice Kyra Harris Bolden for the remainder of her term and Kimberly Thomas for the full term.
Paid for by Alliance for Justice Action Campaign, www.afjactioncampaign.org, and not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.
