Theodora Gaïtas

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Theodora Gaïtas
Image of Theodora Gaïtas
Minnesota Supreme Court Seat 2
Tenure

2024 - Present

Term ends

2027

Years in position

1

Predecessor
Prior offices
Minnesota Court of Appeals District 1

Compensation

Base salary

$214,935

Elections and appointments
Appointed

April 22, 2024

Education

Bachelor's

University of Minnesota

Law

University of Minnesota Law School

Contact

Theodora Gaïtas is a judge for Seat 2 of the Minnesota Supreme Court. She assumed office on August 1, 2024. Her current term ends on January 5, 2027.

Gaïtas ran for re-election for the District 1 judge of the Minnesota Court of Appeals. She won in the general election on November 8, 2022.

Governor Tim Walz (D) appointed Gaïtas to the Minnesota Court of Appeals on May 18, 2020, to fill the at-large seat vacated on August 21, 2020, by retiring Judge John R. Rodenberg.[1][2] Gaïtas assumed this position on August 22, 2020.[2] She served in this capacity until August 1, 2024.

Gaïtas first became a member of the Minnesota Supreme Court through an appointment. Governor of Minnesota Tim Walz first appointed her to the court in 2024 to the seat vacated by Margaret Chutich. To learn more about this appointment, click here.[3]

Education

Gaïtas received her B.A. from the University of Minnesota in 1991 and her J.D. from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1994.[2][4]

Career

  • 2024-present: Judge, Minnesota Supreme Court
  • 2020-2024: Judge, Court of Appeals
  • 2018-2020: Judge, Hennepin County District Court
  • 2013-2018: Attorney, Matonich Law, P.C.
  • 2001-2002: Assistant Public Defender, Second Judicial District Public Defender
  • 1998-2013: Assistant Public Defender, Office of the Minnesota Appellate Public Defender
  • 1997-1997: ​Law Clerk, Honorable Robert H. Schumacher, Minnesota Court of Appeals
  • 1994-1996: Assistant Public Defender, Bucks County Public Defender’s Office, Bucks County, PA
  • 1993-1994: Law Clerk, Hennepin County Attorney’s Office[2][4]

Elections

2022

See also: Minnesota intermediate appellate court elections, 2022

General election

General election for Minnesota Court of Appeals District 1

Incumbent Theodora Gaïtas won election in the general election for Minnesota Court of Appeals District 1 on November 8, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Theodora Gaïtas
Theodora Gaïtas (Nonpartisan)
 
99.1
 
1,348,803
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.9
 
12,433

Total votes: 1,361,236
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Nonpartisan primary election

The primary election was canceled. Incumbent Theodora Gaïtas advanced from the primary for Minnesota Court of Appeals District 1.

Campaign finance


Campaign themes

2022

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Theodora Gaïtas did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

Appointments

2024

See also: Minnesota Supreme Court justice vacancy (July 2024)

Governor Tim Walz (D) appointed Theodora Gaïtas to the Minnesota Supreme Court on April 22, 2024. She took office on August 1, 2024.[5]

Gaïtas replaced Justice Margaret Chutich, who retired on July 31, 2024. Gaïtas is Governor Walz's fifth nominee to the seven-member supreme court.

In Minnesota, state supreme court justices are elected in nonpartisan elections. There are 13 states that use this selection method. To read more about the nonpartisan election of judges, click here.

Interim vacancies on the supreme court are filled via gubernatorial appointment. After serving for at least one year, the appointed judge can run for a full term in the next general election.[6] Other candidates may file to run against them in the election.[7]

State supreme court judicial selection in Minnesota

See also: Judicial selection in Minnesota

The seven judges of the Minnesota Supreme Court are chosen in nonpartisan general elections to six-year terms. Sitting judges must run for re-election if they wish to serve additional terms. While party affiliation is not designated on the ballot, incumbency is.[6]

Qualifications

Judges of the supreme court are required to be "learned in the law" and under 70 years old. Sitting judges who reach the age of 70 while in office are allowed to serve until the last day of that month.[6]

Chief justice

The chief justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court is directly chosen by voters in a nonpartisan election. He or she serves in that capacity for a full six-year term.[6]

Vacancies

See also: How vacancies are filled in state supreme courts

Interim vacancies on the supreme court are filled via gubernatorial appointment. After serving for at least one year, the appointed judge can run for a full term in the next general election.[6] Other candidates may file to run against them in the election.[7]

The map below highlights how vacancies are filled in state supreme courts across the country.



See also

Minnesota Judicial Selection More Courts
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Courts in Minnesota
Minnesota Court of Appeals
Minnesota Supreme Court
Elections: 202520242023202220212020201920182017
Gubernatorial appointments
Judicial selection in Minnesota
Federal courts
State courts
Local courts

External links

Footnotes