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Marie Williams
Marie Williams (Democratic Party) ran for election for an at-large seat of the Louisiana 4th Circuit Court of Appeal. She lost in the primary on November 8, 2022.
Williams was previously a Democratic candidate for the Orleans Parish Civil District Court in Louisiana. She was defeated in the primary election on March 25, 2017. Williams was also a 2016 candidate for the Section D seat on the Orleans Parish Judicial District in Louisiana. She was disqualified in August 2016. Williams also ran for the Orleans Parish Criminal Court in 2014, the Second City Court in 2012, Juvenile Court in 2010, and Civil District Court in 2004.[1][2][3][4]
Biography
Williams earned a B.A. in English and political science from Xavier University of Louisiana and a J.D. from Loyola School of Law of Louisiana. She pursued further training in administrative law from the National Judicial College in Reno, Nevada.[5][6]
Williams' professional experience includes work as an administrative law judge for the state of Louisiana, as a staff attorney for The Pro Bono Project, and as an attorney with The Brigandi Law Firm, the Law Office of Marc H. Morial, and the Law Offices of Daniel E. Becnel, Jr. She has also worked with the Loyola Post Conviction Defender's Organization and with ALERT Fair Housing and SEIU and Local 100. Williams has served as a member of the Orleans Parish Democratic Executive Committee, the Louisiana Disciplinary Board's Board and Hearing Committee, the Dress for Success Steering Committee, the Unity for the Homeless Advocacy and Housing Steering Committee, and the boards of AIDS Law, the League of Women Voters, and the Louisiana Family Council.[6]
Elections
2022
See also: Louisiana intermediate appellate court elections, 2022
Louisiana elections use the majority-vote system. All candidates compete in the same primary, and a candidate can win the election outright by receiving more than 50 percent of the vote. If no candidate does, the top two vote recipients from the primary advance to the general election, regardless of their partisan affiliation.
Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for Louisiana 4th Circuit Court of Appeal At large
Karen K. Herman won election outright against Joseph Cao and Marie Williams in the primary for Louisiana 4th Circuit Court of Appeal At large on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Karen K. Herman (D) | 57.7 | 72,317 |
 | Joseph Cao (R) | 22.0 | 27,620 | |
 | Marie Williams (D) | 20.3 | 25,445 | |
| Total votes: 125,382 | |||
 = 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. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Paul N. Sens (D)
2020
See also: City elections in New Orleans, Louisiana (2020)
Louisiana elections use the majority-vote system. All candidates compete in the same primary, and a candidate can win the election outright by receiving more than 50 percent of the vote. If no candidate does, the top two vote recipients from the primary advance to the general election, regardless of their partisan affiliation.
General election
General election for Orleans Parish Juvenile Court Section A
Clint Smith defeated Kevin Guillory in the general election for Orleans Parish Juvenile Court Section A on December 5, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Clint Smith (D) | 58.7 | 38,199 | |
| Kevin Guillory (D) | 41.3 | 26,862 | ||
| Total votes: 65,061 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
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Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for Orleans Parish Juvenile Court Section A
Clint Smith and Kevin Guillory defeated Marie Williams in the primary for Orleans Parish Juvenile Court Section A on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Clint Smith (D) | 38.8 | 57,945 | |
| ✔ | Kevin Guillory (D) | 32.6 | 48,675 | |
| Marie Williams (D) | 28.7 | 42,833 | |
| Total votes: 149,453 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
2018
Louisiana elections use the majority-vote system. All candidates compete in the same primary, and a candidate can win the election outright by receiving more than 50 percent of the vote. If no candidate does, the top two vote recipients from the primary advance to the general election, regardless of their partisan affiliation.
General election
General election for Orleans Parish Civil District Court Division E
Omar Mason defeated Marie Williams in the general election for Orleans Parish Civil District Court Division E on December 8, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Omar Mason (D) | 65.6 | 23,349 |
| Marie Williams (D) | 34.4 | 12,242 | |
| Total votes: 35,591 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
| = 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. | ||||
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Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for Orleans Parish Civil District Court Division E
Omar Mason and Marie Williams defeated Richard Perque and Kenneth Plaisance in the primary for Orleans Parish Civil District Court Division E on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Omar Mason (D) | 42.0 | 50,828 |
| ✔ | | Marie Williams (D) | 26.8 | 32,391 |
| Richard Perque (D) | 23.7 | 28,728 | ||
| Kenneth Plaisance (D) | 7.5 | 9,050 | ||
| Total votes: 120,997 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
| = 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. | ||||
2017
The following candidates ran in the primary election for the Division B seat on the Orleans Parish Civil District Court.[7]
| Orleans Parish Civil District Court, Division B, Primary Election, 2017 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Suzanne Montero | 45.49% | 12,167 | |
| Democratic | Rachael Johnson | 43.23% | 11,562 | |
| Democratic | Marie Williams | 11.28% | 3,018 | |
| Total Votes | 26,747 | |||
| Source: Louisiana Secretary of State, "Official Results," accessed April 29, 2017 | ||||
Selection method
- See also: Partisan election of judges
There are 217 judges on the Louisiana District Courts, each elected to six-year terms. They must face re-election if they wish to serve again.[8]
The district courts select chief judges by peer vote (with term lengths that vary by individual court).[8]
Qualifications
To serve on this court, a judge must be:[8][9]
- licensed to practice law in the state for at least eight years;
- a resident of the district represented for at least one year; and
- under the age of 70 at the time of election (judges who turn 70 in office may serve until their term expires)
2016
Williams declared her candidacy to run for the Section D seat on the Orleans Parish Judicial Court. In August 2016, she was disqualified from the race. In a statement to Ballotpedia on August 31, 2017, she linked her disqualification to events from her 2014 challenge to incumbent Frank A. Marullo Jr., saying she was disqualified in 2016 because she "went to the media and worked with the FBI against Judge Frank Murullo Who [sic] offered me money to get out of the election." She emphasized that, "I have helped many people and fought against corruption and because I have fought against corruption people have been trying to sabotage my reputation in my career."[6]
2014
See also: Louisiana judicial elections, 2014
Williams ran for election to the Orleans Parish Criminal Court.
Primary: She was defeated in the primary on November 4, 2014, receiving 24.4 percent of the vote. She competed against Graham Bosworth and Frank A. Marullo Jr.
[3][4]
Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Marie Williams did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
2020
Marie Williams did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
Noteworthy events
Disqualification from Orleans Parish Criminal Court race (2016)
Orleans Civil Court Judge Paula Brown disqualified Williams from the Orleans Parish Criminal Court race on August 2, 2016.[10]
Judy Dahl, the sister-in-law of one of Williams' opponents in the race, Paul Bonin, filed a challenge to Williams' candidacy on July 29, 2016. To qualify for the criminal court election, candidates had to sign a statement affirming one of the following: that they had filed state and federal income taxes for the past five years, that they had requested an extension, or that they did not have to file taxes. According to Dahl, the Louisiana Department of Revenue did not have records of tax returns for Williams for 2012, 2014, or 2015.[11]
Williams said she thought her ex-husband Peter Brigandi had filed on her behalf in the years in question. "I just let him do it [file taxes for the household]. He paid it, and that was it," she testified. "He always took care of all of the financials. I never verified with him because I trusted him."[11] She also suggested that the challenge was a reprisal for events in 2014, when she ran against Judge Frank A. Marullo Jr. and recorded him offering her a job to withdraw from the race. "Everybody thinks and knows I'm going to win the race, and because I'm the only female, they're trying to get me out," she said on August 1, 2016. "I have been harassed ever since the [incident] with Marullo. It hasn't stopped. I'm so tired of fighting this corruption. It's sad."[12]
In her ruling, Brown found that Williams had "failed to carry her burden of proof" to refute the challenge to her candidacy.[11]
Marullo accused of breaking election laws (2014)
During the 2014 campaign, Williams claimed that incumbent Judge Frank A. Marullo Jr., whom she was running against, tried to convince her to drop out of the race by offering to help get her a job as a magistrate commissioner on the court.[13]
Williams recorded phone conversations between herself and Sonja DeDais, who claimed to represent Marullo's campaign. In the conversation, DeDais tells Williams that she would become a commissioner. Williams then met with Marullo at a restaurant and also recorded that conversation. In the audio, reported by WDSU News, Marullo says, "I can't guarantee it because it takes a majority vote of the court, but I'm telling you, I will vote for you. You need seven people. I could say to six other people, 'please do this.' That's what I could do." Marullo denied that he offered Williams anything and said that DeDais was not connected to his campaign.[14]
On September 24, FBI spokeswoman Mary Beth Romig confirmed that the FBI decided to review the audio tapes. The Times-Picayune reported that it interviewed several attorneys about the matter, who weren't sure what federal law offenses the FBI was investigating but said it did appear that state election laws were violated.[13]
The Louisiana Supreme Court temporarily removed Marullo from the bench in February 2015, although the court did not cite a specific reason. Marullo retired in December 2015.[15]
See also
2022 Elections
External links
|
Candidate Louisiana 4th Circuit Court of Appeal At large |
Footnotes
- ↑ Nola.com, "Orleans judicial candidate Marie Williams disqualified for not filing taxes," August 2, 2016
- ↑ The Lens, "Marie Williams Says She'd Straighten Out Dysfunctional Courtroom If Elected Criminal Judge," October 23, 2014
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Louisiana Secretary of State, "November 4, 2014 General Election Candidates," accessed August 25, 2014
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Louisiana Secretary of State, "2014 primary results," accessed November 7, 2014
- ↑ LinkedIn, "Marie Williams," accessed October 13, 2014
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Ballotpedia staff, "Email communication with Marie Williams," August 31, 2017]
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "Candidate Inquiry," accessed February 1, 2017
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Louisiana; Selection of Judges," archived October 2, 2014
- ↑ NOLA.com, "Lawmakers fail to pass amendment eliminating mandatory retirement age of judges," June 3, 2013
- ↑ The Times-Picayune, "Orleans Judicial Candidate Marie Williams Disqualified for Not Filing Taxes," August 2, 2016
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 The New Orleans Advocate, "Judge Disqualifies Attorney Marie Williams from Race for Orleans Criminal Court Judgeship," August 2, 2016
- ↑ The New Orleans Advocate, "Orleans Judicial Candidacy Under Challenge; Marie Williams Claims Innocent Mistake in Sworn Affidavit," August 1, 2016
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Nola.com, "FBI reviewing tapes of Frank Marullo and Marie Williams," September 24, 2014
- ↑ Nola.com, "Frank Marullo's opponent says she was offered job to drop out of race, TV station reports," September 23, 2014
- ↑ WDSU News, "Louisiana Supreme Court temporarily kicks Judge Frank Marullo off bench," February 20, 2015
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