On Election Day, Michigan voters chose two justices to serve on the state Supreme Court. Justices who were nominated by the Michigan Democratic Party will have a 5-2 majority in the coming term.
Justice Kyra Harris Bolden won the race to keep her seat on the court and complete the remaining partial four-year term.
In the race for a full eight-year term, Kimberly Ann Thomas defeated Republican state Representative Andrew Fink by a wide margin. Thomas got more than 61% of the vote.
Thomas is a professor at the University of Michigan Law School. On Thursday, the justice-elect spoke with Michigan Public Morning Edition host Doug Tribou about the election results and preparing to join the court.
Traveling the state
Thomas and Bolden ran a joint campaign, something that other candidates for the court have done in the past.
"We really wanted to be across Michigan as much as possible. Obviously, with the two of us, that made it a little bit easier to really reach as many people as we could," Thomas said.
There was also a shared, core message in their appeal to voters.
"I think the two of us were really focused on the experience that we bring to the court, a court that doesn't look to economic status, that doesn't look to geography, that is is going to be fair across the board," she said.
Thomas met a lot of people in the months before the election and heard some common themes.
"Michiganders everywhere just want courts that are going to be fair. They want justices who have, you know, deep experience and understanding of our laws," she said. "And they want our courts to apply the law in a way that has integrity and that isn't partisan — that looks to what the law says to uphold that law."
When Thomas joins the Michigan Supreme Court, the majority held by Democratic Party nominees will expand from 4-3 to 5-2.
Mixed results on the Michigan ballot
President-elect Donald Trump beat Vice President Kamala Harris in Michigan after losing the state to Joe Biden in 2020. Republicans also retook the majority in the Michigan state House of Representatives on Tuesday.
But despite those GOP successes, Thomas and Bolden both won easily. Bolden's opponent, Patrick William O'Grady, got Trump's endorsement and still only collected just over 38% of the vote.
Thomas believes she and Bolden had a message that transcended party lines.
"I think the core values of our judiciary are not partisan. They really are: looking at the law, applying the law, making sure that everyone receives a fair hearing in front of our court system. Making sure that people can have confidence in the decisions of our courts. And that's not a partisan issue," she said.
In September, the Detroit News reported that the ACLU of Michigan was putting $2 million into the races for the state Supreme Court, noting it was "the first time the organization has tried to influence the election of justices to the state's highest court." The ACLU and its political action committee, the ACLU Voter Education Fund, are nonpartisan, so the group did not issue a specific endorsement. Instead, the ad campaign highlighted stances taken by candidates on various issues, pointing out that Thomas and Bolden both received endorsements from groups that align with certain ACLU priorities, including abortion rights.
"I obviously don't know what [the ACLU's] decision process was. I wasn't part of that," Thomas told Michigan Public. "I think that everybody, no matter where you're coming from, is concerned about people's confidence in the court. And so, I would have to speculate, I guess, that that's what their interest is."
A larger majority
The candidates for court seats in Michigan appear in the nonpartisan section of the ballot, but state parties do nominate candidates. With Thomas replacing retiring Republican Party nominee David Viviano, the majority held by Democratic nominees will increase. It's currently 4-3 and will shift to 5-2 in the next term.
Thomas said she's not focused on that split.
"I'm really excited to work with all of my colleagues, no matter which party nominated them to the court. I think that's the advantage for the people of Michigan, for a seven-member court, is you have the experiences and perspectives of everyone."
"I'm really excited to work with all of my colleagues, no matter which party nominated them to the court."Michigan Supreme Court Justice-elect Kimberly Ann Thomas
Beyond the court caseload
Outside of the cases it hears, the Supreme Court can also have a lot of other influence on the rest of Michigan's court system and its processes. Thomas described the role the Supreme Court plays in "administrative leadership" at other courts in the state.
"Some of the things that are happening now through the Michigan Judicial Council, led by our current Chief Justice [Elizabeth Clement], is thinking about how we can make our local courts more transparent, and how we can make them more user friendly, more accessible to people in the community, so that when they're interacting with the courts, we make people feel like they received the justice they deserve."
Thomas served on the Michigan Task Force on Juvenile Justice Reform in 2021 and 2022 after being appointed by Governor Gretchen Whitmer, but she said she does not have a particular goal or focus when it comes to looking at the practices of the courts in the state.
"I'm really excited to serve and to work on the administrative side. You know, that's a really important piece of the leadership that the Supreme Court provides, to work with all of our local courts to think about how we can improve all of our courts, especially the circuit courts, district courts. And so, I will go where they send me," she said with a laugh.
Preparing for a new job
Justices who have been in private practice have to close out their practices before joining the court. Thomas is not part of a firm, but has done a lot of pro bono and public defender work over the years, in addition to being a professor.
"This will be my last semester at the University of Michigan Law School, so I am savoring my last classes," she said.
"I have been there for nearly 20 years, and so I really am going to enjoy the end of my last semester, but will close out that chapter for myself, as well as the cases that I've been working on, by January 1."
Editor's note: Quotes in this article have been lightly edited for length and clarity. You can listen to the full interview near the top of this page.
