Michigan GOP could drop support for judge over gerrymandering vote

LANSING – Will the Michigan Republican Party withdraw its planned nomination of Michigan Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth Clement at its August convention, as a rebuke for her vote late Tuesday to put an anti-gerrymandering proposal on the Nov. 6 ballot?

Might the party even nominate another judicial candidate in her place?

Those questions were front and center Wednesday in the wake of Tuesday's late-night, 4-3, decision by the Michigan Supreme Court involving the controversial proposal.

Clement, who was appointed to the court in November by Republican Gov. Rick Snyder and must seek election in November for a full eight-year term, joined with another Snyder appointee, Justice David Viviano, and two Democratic-nominated justices — Richard Bernstein and Bridget McCormack — to allow the proposal to end a system of drawing political lines that has benefited Michigan Republicans in recent years.

“I know that many activists and delegates are furious with her abandonment of the Rule of Law philosophy in this case,” as well as other recent cases, Tony Daunt, executive director of the conservative Michigan Freedom Fund, said Wednesday.


“Ultimately, it’s up to the delegates on whether Clement needs to be held accountable for her record.”

Viviano does not face re-election until 2024. Although candidates for the Michigan Supreme Court run on a nonpartisan ballot, they are generally nominated by the two major political parties.


https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2018/08/01/gop-judge-gerrymandering-michigan/877968002/