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Judges appointed by Gretchen Whitmer

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This page lists judges appointed by Gretchen Whitmer (D) during her term as Governor of Michigan. As of today, the total number of Whitmer appointees was 47. For the full profile of Whitmer, click here.

As of December 2018, governors in Michigan were responsible for appointing judges to the seven-member supreme court and the 28-member appellate court, as well as certain local courts, in the event of a midterm vacancy. To remain on the bench, the appointed judge must run for election to the seat in the next general election.[1]

Ballotpedia provides comprehensive coverage of the 100 largest cities in America by population. Some Michigan judges are outside of that coverage scope. As a result, this page does not provide an exhaustive list of all judges appointed by Gov. Whitmer.

Appointed judges

The tables below list the governor's appointees to the courts across the state. These lists are updated automatically with new appointments.

State Courts

Supreme Court

Name Court Active

Kyra Harris Bolden

Michigan Supreme Court

January 1, 2023 - Present

Noah Hood

Michigan Supreme Court

May 21, 2025 - Present

Court of Appeals

Name Court Active

Mariam Bazzi

Michigan 1st District Court of Appeals

May 13, 2025 - Present

Kristina Robinson Garrett

Michigan 1st District Court of Appeals

April 1, 2022 - Present

Noah Hood

Michigan 1st District Court of Appeals

March 7, 2022 - May 13, 2025

Sima Patel

Michigan 2nd District Court of Appeals

March 1, 2022 - Present

Adrienne Young

Michigan 2nd District Court of Appeals

February 20, 2024 - Present

Christopher Trebilcock

Michigan 2nd District Court of Appeals

May 19, 2025 - Present

Randy Wallace

Michigan 2nd District Court of Appeals

August 12, 2024 - Present

Christopher P. Yates

Michigan 3rd District Court of Appeals

April 18, 2022 - Present

Daniel Korobkin

Michigan 3rd District Court of Appeals

May 12, 2025 - Present

Philip Mariani

Michigan 3rd District Court of Appeals

March 15, 2024 - Present

Allie Greenleaf Maldonado

Michigan 4th District Court of Appeals

January 9, 2023 - Present


Local Courts

Name Court Active

Alan M. Curtis

Alpena County Probate Court

2021 - Present

Miriam A. Perry

Michigan 15th District Court

December 30, 2020 - Present

Matthew P. Sabaugh

Michigan 16th Circuit Court

April 13, 2022 - Present

Victoria I. Shackelford

Michigan 23rd District Court

November 1, 2021 - Present

Breeda O'Leary

Michigan 29th District Court

2020 - Present

Lisa McCormick

Michigan 30th Circuit Court

2020 - Present

Millicent Sherman

Michigan 36th District Court

2021 - Present

Raeigen Evans

Michigan 36th District Court

April 18, 2022 - Present

Kristina Robinson Garrett

Michigan 36th District Court

June 3, 2019 - April 1, 2022

Christina Kennedy

Michigan 36th District Court

October 17, 2022 - Present

Marlena Taylor

Michigan 36th District Court

2021 - Present

Shawn Jacque

Michigan 36th District Court

December 27, 2022 - Present

Jacquelyn McClinton

Michigan 36th District Court

January 13, 2020 - October 26, 2023

Monique Sharpe

Michigan 36th District Court

November 16, 2023 - Present

Yvonna Abraham

Michigan 3rd Circuit Court

May 16, 2022 - Present

Christopher M. Blount

Michigan 3rd Circuit Court

April 18, 2022 - Present

Lawrence Elassal

Michigan 3rd Circuit Court

December 4, 2023 - Present

Bradley Cobb

Michigan 3rd Circuit Court

October 10, 2022 - Present

Noah Hood

Michigan 3rd Circuit Court

May 6, 2019 - March 7, 2022

Nicole Goodson

Michigan 3rd Circuit Court

November 7, 2022 - Present

Susan Dabaja

Michigan 3rd Circuit Court

April 18, 2022 - Present

Darnella Williams-Claybourne

Michigan 3rd Circuit Court

March 13, 2020 - Present

Helal Farhat

Michigan 3rd Circuit Court

September 18, 2019 - Present

Cylenthia LaToye Miller

Michigan 3rd Circuit Court

July 24, 2019 - Present

Jeremy Bowie

Michigan 50th District Court

January 9, 2023 - Present

Anthony Flores

Michigan 54A District Court

April 18, 2022 - January 1, 2023

Tara Hovey

Michigan 55th Circuit Court

October 11, 2022 - Present

Angela T. Ross

Michigan 61st District Court

April 18, 2022 - Present

Jessica Hammon

Michigan 67th District Court

Yasmine Isshak Poles

Michigan 6th Circuit Court

2020 - Present

Mark W. Latchana

Michigan 7th Circuit Court

2020 - Present

Angela J. Lasher

Michigan 90th District Court

February 14, 2020 - Present

Lora Greene

Montmorency County Probate Court

2021 - Present

Michael McClory

Wayne County Probate Court

November 1, 2022 - Present


Judicial selection process

See also: Judicial selection in Michigan
Judicial selection in Michigan
Judicialselectionlogo.png
Michigan Supreme Court
Method:   Michigan method
Term:   8 years
Michigan Court of Appeals
Method:   Nonpartisan election
Term:   6 years
Michigan Circuit Courts
Method:   Nonpartisan election
Term:   6 years
Michigan District Courts
Method:   Nonpartisan election
Term:   6 years
Michigan Probate Courts
Method:   Nonpartisan election
Term:   6 years


Judicial selection refers to the process used to select judges for courts. At the state level, methods of judicial selection vary substantially in the United States, and in some cases between different court types within a state. There are six primary types of judicial selection: partisan and nonpartisan elections, the Michigan method, assisted appointment, gubernatorial appointment, and legislative elections. To read more about how these selection methods are used across the country, click here.

This article covers how state court judges are selected in Michigan, including:

As of April 2025, the selection of state court judges in Michigan occurred primarily through nonpartisan elections, although supreme court judges were selected through the Michigan method.[2] All judges wishing to serve again must run for re-election at the end of their terms.[3]

Click here to notify us of changes to judicial selection methods in this state.

Appellate state court selection in the United States, by general selection method[4]


State courts and their selection methods across the U.S., including the District of Columbia[4]
Method Supreme Court (of 53)[5] Courts of Appeal (of 46) Trial Courts (of 147)
Partisan elections (PE) 8 6 39
Nonpartisan elections (NPE) 13 16 34
Legislative elections (LE) 2 2 5
Gubernatorial appointment of judges (GA) 5 3 6
Assisted appointment (AA) 22 18 46
Combination or other 3[6] 1[7] 17[8]

State profile

Demographic data for Michigan
 MichiganU.S.
Total population:9,917,715316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):56,5393,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:79%73.6%
Black/African American:14%12.6%
Asian:2.7%5.1%
Native American:0.5%0.8%
Pacific Islander:0%0.2%
Two or more:2.6%3%
Hispanic/Latino:4.7%17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:89.6%86.7%
College graduation rate:26.9%29.8%
Income
Median household income:$49,576$53,889
Persons below poverty level:20%11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015)
Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Michigan.
**Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Presidential voting pattern

See also: Presidential voting trends in Michigan

Michigan voted for the Democratic candidate in four out of the seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.

Pivot Counties (2016)

Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won these Pivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, 12 are located in Michigan, accounting for 5.83 percent of the total pivot counties.[9]

Pivot Counties (2020)

In 2020, Ballotpedia re-examined the 206 Pivot Counties to view their voting patterns following that year's presidential election. Ballotpedia defined those won by Trump won as Retained Pivot Counties and those won by Joe Biden (D) as Boomerang Pivot Counties. Nationwide, there were 181 Retained Pivot Counties and 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties. Michigan had 11 Retained Pivot Counties and one Boomerang Pivot County, accounting for 6.08 and 4.00 of all Retained and Boomerang Pivot Counties, respectively.

More Michigan coverage on Ballotpedia

See also

Michigan Judicial Selection More Courts
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Michigan Court of Appeals
Michigan Supreme Court
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External links

Footnotes

  1. American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Michigan," archived October 2, 2014
  2. The Michigan-Ohio method involves candidates for a nonpartisan general election being selected using partisan processes.
  3. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named general
  4. 4.0 4.1 American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection," archived February 2, 2015
  5. Both Oklahoma and Texas have two state supreme courts: one for civil matters and one for criminal matters.
  6. Michigan and Ohio use nonpartisan general elections with candidates selected through partisan primaries or conventions. In the District of Columbia, judges are selected in the same manner as federal judges.
  7. Judges of the North Dakota Court of Appeals are appointed on an as-needed basis by the supreme court justices.
  8. Most courts that use combination/alternative methods (for example, mayoral appointment) are local level courts. These courts are often governed by selection guidelines that are unique to their specific region.
  9. The raw data for this study was provided by Dave Leip of Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.