Democratic-backed justices retain their majority on the Michigan Supreme Court

DETROIT (AP) — Michigan Democrats have successfully defended control of the state Supreme Court after a costly election campaign with reproductive rights as a central issue.

Court races are nonpartisan, but candidates are nominated at party conventions. Republicans had hoped to flip Democrats' 4-3 majority and regain some margin of control after being in the minority in Michigan's state government for the past two years. However, to do this they had to win both seats.

Judge Kyra Harris Bolden defeated Republican-backed Judge Patrick O'Grady to win the seat two years after Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer appointed her to fill a vacancy. She is the first Black woman to serve on the bench and now the first elected to Michigan's highest court. O'Grady used his experience as a state trooper, prosecutor and long-time district judge in the campaign.

Now Bolden will serve the remaining four years of the eight-year term vacated by Judge Bridget McCormick.

Kimberly Ann Thomas, a law professor at the University of Michigan, won the other open seat with Democratic support, being vacated by Republican-backed Judge David Viviano. Her Republican nominee was Rep. Andrew Fink. She will now serve an eight-year term.

The four candidates spent most of their official campaign resources promoting their different career experiences, as the Democratic Party and its allies far outpaced Republicans in fundraising and spending on issue definition.

Fink and O'Grady argued they were restoring balance to a court they accused of “legislating from the bench in favor of liberal causes and Democratic policies.”

Democrats portrayed the race as a defense of reproductive rights and said the court has the potential to rule on abortion in the future, even though voters enshrined abortion access in the state constitution in 2022. Republicans rejected that idea as a misrepresentation, saying the amendment removes abortion protections that cannot be undone.

About one in 10 Michigan voters cited abortion as the country's biggest problem, according to AP VoteCast, a comprehensive survey of more than 110,000 voters nationwide, including about 3,700 voters in Michigan. About 4 in 10 Michigan voters said the economy and jobs were the most pressing issue, and about 2 in 10 in Michigan cited immigration.

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