(Source: MIRS.news, Published 08/08/2024) (HARTLAND) – Candidate Alexandria Taylor called Justice Kyra Bolden a “DEI appointee," Appellate Judge Mark Boonstra jabbed at opponent Andrew Fink (R-Osseo) and 2022 Attorney General candidate Matt DePerno was a no-show for a Supreme Court candidate forum hosted Thursday night by Pure Integrity Michigan Election (PIME). 

Running for the Republican nomination for a four-year term, Taylor said Gov. Gretchen Whitmer only appointed Bolden for the bench because she's a Black female. If Republicans want to defeat Bolden, they need to think about what type of candidate can win. In the past 25 years, the only non-incumbent Republican candidates to win a Supreme Court seat were women – Maura Corrigan and Mary Beth Kelly. 

“I can win. It's as simple as that,” said Taylor, a former U.S. Senate candidate. “The beauty of it is when you put me against her, it's like ‘Oh, you’re Black? Well, me, too. What's next?" 

Taylor is running against DePerno and Branch County Judge Patrick William O'Grady to serve out the four remaining years of former Chief Judge Bridget McCormack's unexpired term, which Whitmer appointed Bolden to finish. 

Neither Taylor nor O'Grady directly addressed the other or DePerno, who organizers said they contacted multiple times about the event at the Floodgate Church. Contacted after the forum, DePerno told MIRS he was not consulted about the event. Organizers selected a date and expected the candidates to appear, he said. 

“I've never been part of a forum or debate where the campaigns were not first consulted on a date that fits everyone's schedule,” he said. "We were also not consulted on the rules. The forum seemed poorly conceived and did not have the best interests of the candidates in mind. I'm surprised all the candidates attended." 

Regardless, DePerno said had a prior family commitment, which could not be changed. That said, MIRS spoke with multiple people following the Supreme Court races who said they had seen little to no trace of DePerno on the campaign trail since his announcement. 

The four remaining GOP candidates for the two spots on the Nov. 5 ballot were in attendance, along with roughly 100 spectators. MIRS streamed the forum on its Facebook page. PIME said they invited the two likely Democratic nominees to the forum, but they did not respond. 

The Boonstra-Fink race for the full eight-year term was more feisty. Boonstra took subtle jabs about Fink's lack of judicial experience, Fink changing post he is seeking, and a reference to GOP vice presidential nominee JD Vance. 

Responding to a question on how old each candidate is and whether they could serve another term under the state's age limit of 70 for judicial posts, Fink said he was 39, the same age as Vance when he was nominated vice president. 

“For three days I was the same age as JD Vance, who people tell me I look like. I guess because I'm also a jar head and I have a beard, but I think I was wearing a beard before him.” 

To this, Boonstra said, “At 39, JD Vance is not running for the top job. He's running to be vice president to serve as an understudy to get some experience before he runs for the top job.” 

Experience was a staple of Boonstra's arguments on Thursday. He said his 14 years of service on the Court of Appeals is why retired conservative judges such as Bob Young, Cliff Taylor, Maura Corrigan and Steve Markman are supporting his candidacy for the eight-year term. 

“My friend, Andrew, has never served in a job in his whole life for as much as eight years,” Boonstra said. “I'm not looking at this as a way to climb a ladder, but as a way to fix the court.” 

Boonstra also made mention of the fact Fink was running for the four-year term before deciding to run for the eight-year term, which are two separate nominations. At age 67, Boonstra conceded that he could only run for one term on the court under the state's 70-year-old age limit on judicial candidates. 

Fink responded that he could serve four terms if he's elected and that it's important to continue having conservative judges who can run with an incumbency designation because they're more likely to serve longer. Boonstra spoke of a movement afoot to eliminate or extend the age limit on judges because “70 isn't what it used to be,” but Fink said he hasn't heard anything of the sort, particularly in recent weeks. 

As for which seat he's running for, Fink said he was running for the four-term term until Justice David Viviano decided not to seek another term, opening up the eight-year term. 

Fink said he's been endorsed by former Gov. John Engler, CPAC, the Ottawa County Republican Party and the Saginaw Republican Party. Boonstra said former President Donald Trump, “Karl the Barber” Manke of COVID shutdown fame and “Motor City Madman” Ted NUGENT are supporting his campaign, as well. 

O'Grady, 54, said Young, Markman, Taylor, Corrigan and Nugent also are endorsing his campaign. O'Grady said that as a judge, he ruled that children who were sent home from school because contact tracers found they were near to someone with COVID could go back to school and play in their sporting events. 

“They were tagged by a ghost. (They) had no idea who tagged them, but they were told ‘you’re it and you got to go home,” he said. O'Grady said he gave the children their “due process rights" back. 

But the loudest applause of the night came for the charismatic Taylor, 43, who treated the forum as more of a political rally, which seemed fine with the attendees. She said she was endorsed by Mike Lindell, CEO of MyPillow and a former client, U.S. Senate candidate Mike Rogers and several religious leaders. 

Taylor was sanctioned nearly $60,000 by the court for allegedly filing a “frivolous” lawsuit over the 2020 election. She made no apologies for that. 

“What we need to bench are fighters. Despite that, did I stop doing election law? No. I kept going and I kept pushing back,” she said. 

Taylor added that she's tired of “weak lawyers and weak judges. It's time out for that.” 

Writing to MIRS and referencing Taylor, DePerno said if Republican delegates want to “send a person to the general election under the RNC brand who was on the Michigan Democratic Party 13th district executive committee as late as 2022, but has now “converted" to a Republican, then our party is lost."