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Jerry Lynch
Jerry Lynch was a judge of the United States District Court for the District of Montana. He assumed office on June 10, 2006. He left office on August 2, 2019.
Lynch ran for election for judge of the Montana Supreme Court Chief Justice. He lost in the general election on November 5, 2024.
Education
Lynch earned his undergraduate degree from Carroll College in 1973 and his J.D. from the University of Montana School of Law in 1981. He also obtained a master's degree from Montana State University in 1976.[1]
Professional career
- 1996-2006: Attorney in private practice
- 1981-1995: Law clerk, Honorable Paul G. Hatfield[1]
Judicial career
Elections
2024
See also: Montana Supreme Court elections, 2024
General election
General election for Montana Supreme Court Chief Justice
Cory Swanson defeated Jerry Lynch in the general election for Montana Supreme Court Chief Justice on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Cory Swanson (Nonpartisan) | 53.8 | 296,545 |
 | Jerry Lynch (Nonpartisan) | 46.2 | 254,595 | |
| Total votes: 551,140 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for Montana Supreme Court Chief Justice
Cory Swanson and Jerry Lynch defeated Doug Marshall in the primary for Montana Supreme Court Chief Justice on June 4, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Cory Swanson (Nonpartisan) | 46.3 | 121,549 |
| ✔ | | Jerry Lynch (Nonpartisan) | 37.5 | 98,622 |
 | Doug Marshall (Nonpartisan) | 16.2 | 42,562 | |
| Total votes: 262,733 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Election campaign finance
Candidates in this election submitted campaign finance reports to the Commissioner of Political Practices. Click here to access those reports.
Satellite spending
Satellite spending describes political spending not controlled by candidates or their campaigns; that is, any political expenditures made by groups or individuals that are not directly affiliated with a candidate. This includes spending by political party committees, super PACs, trade associations, and 501(c)(4) nonprofit groups.[2][3][4]
If available, this section includes links to online resources tracking satellite spending in this election. To notify us of a resource to add, email us.
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Lynch in this election.
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Jerry Lynch did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign ads
View more ads here:
Campaign website
Lynch’s campaign website stated the following:
| “ |
The future of the State of Montana is in your hands – and those of your family, friends and neighbors. We must all come together to protect the independence, impartiality and integrity of Montana’s Supreme Court and Montana’s judicial branch. A historic election will take place in 2024. Culminating a brilliant career in public service, Chief Justice Mike McGrath recently announced his retirement after 16 years leading Montana’s judicial branch. As a result, Montana voters will have the opportunity to elect a new Chief Justice. If the past is prologue – and no doubt it will be – Montana voters should expect to be pummeled with negative advertising in support of extreme politicians or lobbyist candidates on the left and right. These candidates likely carry personal agendas or are motivated by the influence of dark money lobbyists and corporations. Already, these extremists have tried to take over Montana’s highest court. Over the past nine years, they have spent more than $8 million on negative and misleading ads. In most cases, extremists have attacked well-qualified, impartial justices on the Montana Supreme Court. I have only one purpose: to protect the 1972 Montana State Constitution. It has withstood the test of time, having been written in a truly non-partisan manner and approved overwhelmingly by Montana voters. The Montana State Constitution protects everyone’s freedoms to privacy, individual dignity, a clean and healthful environment, our agricultural way of life, a no-cost public education and many, many more rights. These Constitutional rights are the result of rejecting a long heritage of desecrating corporate control of Montana and our resources and embracing a sustainable, bright future for the Big Sky State, our children and our future generations. I want to be your Chief Justice of the Montana Supreme Court because I have the experience, independence, demeanor and dedication to protect all the people of Montana and our Constitution. My candidacy is not fueled by personal ambition, nor is it inspired by out-of-state corporate lobbyists and political extremists seeking to control Montana’s future by undermining our Constitutional freedoms. I grew up and worked in Butte. My family, friends and neighbors understand way too much about the unfettered corporate exploitation of Montana’s natural resources. My family and I are proud of my more than 28 years of public service as a Federal Magistrate Judge in the Montana District of the U.S. District Court (2006-2019) and as a law clerk for the Honorable Paul Hatfield. Before my public service, I served for 10 years as a private practice attorney in Great Falls, Montana, where my wife Teri – a public school educator – and I raised our children. I also served on the Montana Board of Public Education and the Montana Board of Environmental Review. I’m up to the task and am focused on grassroots outreach to individual voters and community leaders throughout Montana. It will take all of our collective energy, intelligence and dedication to make sure Montana’s future is as bright as possible for the next generations. Thank you for your consideration. Sincerely, Jeremiah C. Lynch[5] |
” |
| —Jerry Lynch’s campaign website (2024)[6] | ||
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
See also
2024 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedbio - ↑ OpenSecrets.org, "Outside Spending," accessed December 12, 2021
- ↑ OpenSecrets.org, "Total Outside Spending by Election Cycle, All Groups," accessed December 12, 2021
- ↑ National Review.com, "Why the Media Hate Super PACs," December 12, 2021
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Jerry Lynch’s campaign website, “WHY JUDGE JERRY LYNCH?,” accessed September 16, 2024
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