Michigan Elections Summary, 2014

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Despite high hopes by Democrats to flip the partisan balance of the supreme court and the millions of dollars that poured into the supreme court campaigns pre-election, much stays the same in the Michigan judiciary. The Michigan Supreme Court elections brought no change to the court's party balance. Neither party gained or lost seats, as two Republican incumbents, Brian Zahra and David Viviano, were re-elected, and Democratic candidate Richard Bernstein will fill the seat of a former Democratic justice.

There were a total of 327 judicial candidates running in Michigan this year, 211 of which were incumbents. 196 judicial candidates were unopposed for election in November. Only 16 incumbent judges competed in a contested election, and three of them were defeated.

For general election results, see: Michigan judicial elections, 2014.
For primary election results, see: Michigan primary elections, 2014.

Interesting races[edit]

• Two district court judges were defeated by challengers. Judge Brian MacKenzie lost to attorney Travis M. Reeds. MacKenzie had been in the news for a 2013 lawsuit that claimed he was illegally dismissing domestic violence cases.^[1] It was a very close race, with 50.2% of votes to Reeds and 49.8% to MacKenzie.
• Judge Dean Ausilio of the 37th Judicial District Court, who was appointed to the court in 2012, was defeated by challenger Suzanne Faunce. Faunce is following the family tradition, as her father and sister have both served as judges on that court.^[2]
• Mark Braunlich may have been the only candidate who was happy to have lost the election. He was an inactive candidate since he had been appointed to a circuit court after filing for re-election to the district court. Even so, he still received 41.1% of the vote. The winner, Jarod Michael Calkins, will replace Braunlich on the First Judicial District Court.
• Below are some close races (winners in bold):

• 35th Circuit Court: Matt Stewart (51.2%), Deana M. Finnegan (48.8%)
• 49th Circuit Court: Kimberly L. Booher (51.2%), Eric D. Williams (48.8%)
• 19th District Court: Mark Somers (50.2%), Tony Guerriero (49.8%)
• 94th District Court: Steve Parks (51.7%), John Economopoulos (48.3%)

• Millions of dollars were raised for the state supreme court elections in Michigan. For more details and totals, see: Michigan Supreme Court elections, 2014 - Contributions.

List of defeated incumbents[edit]

See also[edit]

• Michigan judicial elections, 2014
• Michigan elections
• Portal:Judicial elections
• Judicial selection in Michigan
• Michigan

External links[edit]

• Michigan Secretary of State, "Elections in Michigan"

Footnotes[edit]

	v • e State of Michigan Lansing (capital)
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