By Ben Solis
Gongwer News Service
FLINT – Rep. Andrew Fink and Judge Patrick O’Grady won the Michigan Republican Party nomination on Saturday for Supreme Court justice, setting the stage for a potentially heated matchup that could be consequential to the makeup of the bench.
Fink (R-Hillsdale) won delegates over at the party’s nominating convention, held in Flint’s Dort Financial Center, and will appear on November 5 ballots for the open eight-year term. The seat is being vacated by retiring conservative Justice David Viviano.
O’Grady became the candidate to beat in the nomination race for the partial four-year term currently held by the liberal Justice Kyra Harris Bolden, after attorney Matthew DePerno dropped out of the race on Friday evening, leaving Alexandria Taylor as his sole opponent.
DePerno threw his support for O’Grady, giving the longshot Taylor a steeper hill to climb.
The representative and longtime attorney will face attorney Kimberly Thomas for Viviano’s seat, while O’Grady is poised to face Bolden.
If both were to win, it would upend the thin 4-3 Democratic Party title to a 4-3 Republican Party nominated court, something Republicans have been eyeing for since 2020.
Although some of the races had to go to a runoff, the Supreme Court races were decided swiftly.
Fink spoke to reporters following his victory at convention, and said he feels like he’s in a great position to start running a statewide race that can win.
“And we’ve been prepared to do that,” Fink said. “We’ve been preparing to do that since day one, so we’re excited and ready.”
Fink said his jurisprudential message to delegates was that he would be a judge who views every case based on the language of the law, no based on what a judge would want the law to say if they were writing it themselves.
“Judge every case on its merits, and not based on who the parties are, or who their friends are,” he said. “That’s the message we want everybody to understand. That’s what due process means, and every citizen should be entitled to due process, regardless of how popular they are, or what area of law they’re bringing to the court.”
That message, Fink said, would also hopefully resonate with voters, and not just MIGOP delegates.
Fink spoke to Gongwer News Service prior to the convention and said that one of his key selling points was that he was young, could run for potentially more than 30 years if elected and won’t be aged out at the end of the eight-year term up for grabs.
The Constitution bars justices of the Supreme Court from being appointed or seeking reelection after the age of 70. Fink is 39 years old as of this summer, whereas his opponent on Saturday, Court of Appeals Judge Mark Boonstra, is 67 years old.
When asked if that factored into his nomination win, Fink said that he believed this was a moment where delegates wanted “someone who has tread on the tire to protect the jurisprudence in our state for years into the future.”
“I think the maximum I could serve right now is 32 years, if I were to get elected, something like that,” he said. “I’m not promising to be there for 32 years, but certainly the point that I can win the seat and keep the seat, in the hands of somebody who does respect the rule of law and who does try to apply the law as it was written by the people or the representatives, I do think that that was an important part of the message here.”
November’s contest could be tough to win, with Democrats seeking to keep hold of their majority on the bench, but Fink said this wasn’t his first rodeo, even if it was one where an “R” won’t be next to his name on November’s nonpartisan ballot.
“I’ve been in constant election cycles for the last five years. We were ready to embrace the challenges of getting the name ID built. We understand what it’s going to take,” Fink said. “Everything that people do to do these things, mail, TV, whatever it is, we’re going to build a plan that’s going to make sure that the voters know who I am, recognize the value I can bring to the court, including, establishing or maintaining a certain degree of balance on the court.”
Fink said he believes there will be a swath of voters who will look at the court and say, “I don’t know if I really want five members of a seven member court who’ve been nominated by one party.”
“Maybe even more members than just five who tend to vote in a in a group,” he said. “I think that lots of voters who might not be as hardcore as some of the folks out here today are still going to look at and say, ‘We need to make sure that there are viewpoints on the court that won’t be represented by Kimberly Thomas.’”
When Fink last spoke to Gongwer, ahead of the convention, which came down to the wire for Fink and Boonstra, the representative said he was “feeling very prosperous.”
Asked if there was a word that represented his feelings now, Fink said: “Ready. We’re ready.”
A request to interview O’Grady following the convention was not granted.
Gongwer News Service
FLINT – Rep. Andrew Fink and Judge Patrick O’Grady won the Michigan Republican Party nomination on Saturday for Supreme Court justice, setting the stage for a potentially heated matchup that could be consequential to the makeup of the bench.
Fink (R-Hillsdale) won delegates over at the party’s nominating convention, held in Flint’s Dort Financial Center, and will appear on November 5 ballots for the open eight-year term. The seat is being vacated by retiring conservative Justice David Viviano.
O’Grady became the candidate to beat in the nomination race for the partial four-year term currently held by the liberal Justice Kyra Harris Bolden, after attorney Matthew DePerno dropped out of the race on Friday evening, leaving Alexandria Taylor as his sole opponent.
DePerno threw his support for O’Grady, giving the longshot Taylor a steeper hill to climb.
The representative and longtime attorney will face attorney Kimberly Thomas for Viviano’s seat, while O’Grady is poised to face Bolden.
If both were to win, it would upend the thin 4-3 Democratic Party title to a 4-3 Republican Party nominated court, something Republicans have been eyeing for since 2020.
Although some of the races had to go to a runoff, the Supreme Court races were decided swiftly.
Fink spoke to reporters following his victory at convention, and said he feels like he’s in a great position to start running a statewide race that can win.
“And we’ve been prepared to do that,” Fink said. “We’ve been preparing to do that since day one, so we’re excited and ready.”
Fink said his jurisprudential message to delegates was that he would be a judge who views every case based on the language of the law, no based on what a judge would want the law to say if they were writing it themselves.
“Judge every case on its merits, and not based on who the parties are, or who their friends are,” he said. “That’s the message we want everybody to understand. That’s what due process means, and every citizen should be entitled to due process, regardless of how popular they are, or what area of law they’re bringing to the court.”
That message, Fink said, would also hopefully resonate with voters, and not just MIGOP delegates.
Fink spoke to Gongwer News Service prior to the convention and said that one of his key selling points was that he was young, could run for potentially more than 30 years if elected and won’t be aged out at the end of the eight-year term up for grabs.
The Constitution bars justices of the Supreme Court from being appointed or seeking reelection after the age of 70. Fink is 39 years old as of this summer, whereas his opponent on Saturday, Court of Appeals Judge Mark Boonstra, is 67 years old.
When asked if that factored into his nomination win, Fink said that he believed this was a moment where delegates wanted “someone who has tread on the tire to protect the jurisprudence in our state for years into the future.”
“I think the maximum I could serve right now is 32 years, if I were to get elected, something like that,” he said. “I’m not promising to be there for 32 years, but certainly the point that I can win the seat and keep the seat, in the hands of somebody who does respect the rule of law and who does try to apply the law as it was written by the people or the representatives, I do think that that was an important part of the message here.”
November’s contest could be tough to win, with Democrats seeking to keep hold of their majority on the bench, but Fink said this wasn’t his first rodeo, even if it was one where an “R” won’t be next to his name on November’s nonpartisan ballot.
“I’ve been in constant election cycles for the last five years. We were ready to embrace the challenges of getting the name ID built. We understand what it’s going to take,” Fink said. “Everything that people do to do these things, mail, TV, whatever it is, we’re going to build a plan that’s going to make sure that the voters know who I am, recognize the value I can bring to the court, including, establishing or maintaining a certain degree of balance on the court.”
Fink said he believes there will be a swath of voters who will look at the court and say, “I don’t know if I really want five members of a seven member court who’ve been nominated by one party.”
“Maybe even more members than just five who tend to vote in a in a group,” he said. “I think that lots of voters who might not be as hardcore as some of the folks out here today are still going to look at and say, ‘We need to make sure that there are viewpoints on the court that won’t be represented by Kimberly Thomas.’”
When Fink last spoke to Gongwer, ahead of the convention, which came down to the wire for Fink and Boonstra, the representative said he was “feeling very prosperous.”
Asked if there was a word that represented his feelings now, Fink said: “Ready. We’re ready.”
A request to interview O’Grady following the convention was not granted.
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