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David DeWolf
David DeWolf was a 2016 candidate for the Washington State Supreme Court. He ran against incumbent Justice Mary Yu.[1] DeWolf was defeated.
DeWolf is a fellow of the Discovery Institute and a former professor at Gonzaga Law School.[2][3]
Education
DeWolf received his bachelor's degree from Stanford University in 1971 and his J.D. from Yale Law School in 1979.[2]
Career
- 1998-Present: Fellow, Discovery Institute
- 1995-2016: Professor, Gonzaga Law School
- 1993-1998: Of Counsel, Casey, Gore & Grewe, P.S.
- 1991-1995: Associate Professor, Gonzaga Law School
- 1987-1991: Assistant Professor, Gonzaga Law School
- 1987-1988: Associate, O'Brien, Watters, Davis, Malisch & Piasta
- 1984-1987: Assistant Professor, Oklahoma City University
- 1980-1984: Associate, Lukins & Annis
- 1979-1980: Law Clerk to Justice Stephen Bistline, Idaho Supreme Court
Elections
2016
DeWolf filed to run for the Washington State Supreme Court, Position 1, challenging incumbent Mary Yu.[1] The two faced each other on November 8.
Election results
| Washington Supreme Court, Position 1, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Mary Yu Incumbent |
57.33% | 1,577,495 |
| David DeWolf | 42.67% | 1,174,263 |
| Total Votes (100% reporting) | 2,751,758 | |
| Source: Washington Secretary of State Official Results | ||
Race background
The 2016 election was the first since the 1990s in which all three state supreme court justices up for re-election faced opponents.[4] At least one justice in every election typically runs unopposed, but this year all three incumbents drew challengers. Republican state Representative Matt Manweller said he and other lawmakers actively recruited candidates to run against the justices.[4] This was partly because of the court's decisions in the long-running school funding case McCleary v. Washington, over which the court drew criticism from both Republicans and Democrats for holding the state in contempt of court, and in a separate case about the state funding of charter schools.
Those in favor of replacing the justices said the court has overstepped its boundaries into legislation and policymaking and failed to respect the autonomy of the state legislature.[4] In the McCleary school funding case, the court both found the state government in contempt and fined the state $100,000 per day until the state complied with the court's orders.[5][6]
In a separate case, the court ruled unconstitutional the state funding of charter schools right before those schools were set to open in 2015.
Satellite spending
The political action committee arm of the group Stand for Children spent $116,000 promoting the campaign of Greg Zempel, who challenged Chief Justice Barbara Madsen for her seat on the court.[7] Madsen authored the court's 2015 decision declaring Washington's charter schools, in their form at that time, unconstitutional. The legislature passed a new bill in 2016 that allowed charter schools to continue; opponents threatened to sue over this law as well.[7] Stand for Children's spending on Zempel's campaign was funded by several of the backers of charter schools who were opposed to the court's 2015 decision. The primary donors include Connie Ballmer, wife of former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer; Reed Hastings, founder and CEO of Netflix; and Vulcan Inc., owned by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. Vulcan and Ballmer were also among the primary backers of the ballot initiative that paved the way for the charter schools.[7]
Endorsements
Campaign finance
| David DeWolf Campaign Finance, 2016 | |||
| Contributions | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | Debt |
|---|---|---|---|
| $78,874 | $45,224 | $33,650 | $983 |
| Source: | Washington Public Disclosure Commission | ||
Political affiliation
DeWolf is a fellow of the Discovery Institute in Seattle, a think tank described as "conservative" by SeattlePI; its founders have ties to the Reagan administration.[8][9] The organization maintains programs on intelligent design, economics, and other topics.[9]
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Washington David DeWolf. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Washington Secretary of State, "2016 Candidates Who Have Filed," accessed May 20, 2016
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Gonzaga.edu, "David K. DeWolf Resume," accessed May 20, 2016
- ↑ Columbia Basin Herald, "Supreme Court candidate talks candidacy, McCleary," July 13, 2016
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 The News Tribune, "Controversial school-funding rulings prompt crowded Supreme Court races," June 3, 2016
- ↑ The Seattle Times, "Contempt ruling ups ante in fight to fund public schools," September 12, 2014
- ↑ The Seattle Times, "School funding back on table as court fines state $100,000 a day," August 13, 2015
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 The News Tribune, "Charter-school backers spending $116,000 to try to unseat state Supreme Court justice," July 28, 2016
- ↑ SeattlePI.com, "Supreme Court challengers appear at Republican state convention," May 19, 2016
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Discovery Institute, accessed May 20, 2016
Federal courts:
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Eastern District of Washington, Western District of Washington • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Eastern District of Washington, Western District of Washington
State courts:
Washington Supreme Court • Washington Court of Appeals • Washington Superior Court • Washington District Courts • Washington Municipal Courts
State resources:
Courts in Washington • Washington judicial elections • Judicial selection in Washington
