Richard Bernstein
From Ballotpedia
Richard Bernstein
Michigan Supreme Court
Tenure
2015 - Present
Term ends
2031
Years in position
10
Compensation
Elections and appointments
Education
Contact
Richard Bernstein (Democratic Party) is a judge of the Michigan Supreme Court. He assumed office on January 1, 2015. His current term ends on January 1, 2031.
Bernstein (Nonpartisan, Democratic Party) ran for re-election for judge of the Michigan Supreme Court. Bernstein won in the general election on November 8, 2022. He advanced from the Democratic convention on August 21, 2022.
Bernstein was elected to the court on November 4, 2014. He defeated James Robert Redford, Brian Zahra, William B. Murphy, and Doug Dern in the general election and received 28.9 percent of the vote. To read more about judicial selection in Michigan, click here.
In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship, a study examining the partisan affiliation of all state supreme court justices in the country. As part of this study, we assigned each justice a Confidence Score describing our confidence in the degree of partisanship exhibited by the justices' past partisan behavior, before they joined the court.[1] Bernstein received a confidence score of Strong Democrat.[2] Click here to read more about this study.
Biography
Bernstein received his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan and his J.D. from Northwestern University.[3] Before his election to the Michigan Supreme Court, Bernstein served as the head of the Public Service Division at the Sam Bernstein Law Firm. He also previously taught as an adjunct professor at Wayne State University School of Law.[3][4]
Elections
2022
See also: Michigan Supreme Court elections, 2022
General election
Democratic convention
Republican convention
Libertarian convention
Campaign finance
2014
Bernstein ran for election to the Michigan Supreme Court.
General: He defeated James Robert Redford, Brian Zahra, William B. Murphy, and Doug Dern in the general election on November 4, 2014, receiving 28.9 percent of the vote.
Candidates competed for two open seats. Bernstein was nominated as a candidate at the Democratic convention.
Endorsements
- United Automobile, Aerospace & Agricultural Implement Workers of America
- Michigan Education Association
- United Association of Local Union 85 Plumbers, Steamfitters and HVACR Service Technicians
- Michigan Association for Justice
- SEIU Michigan State Council
- Michigan Building and Construction Trades Council
- American Federation of Labor & Congress of Industrial Organizations
- Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters Millwright
- Pride Source Media Group: Between the Lines Newspaper[5]
Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Richard Bernstein did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
Analysis
Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship (2020)
Last updated: June 15, 2020
In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship, a study examining the partisan affiliation of all state supreme court justices in the country as of June 15, 2020.
The study presented Confidence Scores that represented our confidence in each justice's degree of partisan affiliation. This was not a measure of where a justice fell on an ideological spectrum, but rather a measure of how much confidence we had that a justice was or had been affiliated with a political party. The scores were based on seven factors, including but not limited to party registration.[6]
The five resulting categories of Confidence Scores were:
- Strong Democrat
- Mild Democrat
- Indeterminate[7]
- Mild Republican
- Strong Republican
This justice's Confidence Score, as well as the factors contributing to that score, is presented below. The information below was current as of June 2020.
Richard
Bernstein
Michigan
- Partisan Confidence Score:
Strong Democrat - Judicial Selection Method:
Elected - Key Factors:
- Worked on a campaign for a Democrat candidate
- Donated over $2,000 to Democratic candidates
Partisan Profile
Details:
In 2010, Bernstein ran for Michigan Attorney General as a Democrat. He donated $370,697 to Democratic candidates and organizations. Bernstein was a registered Democrat prior to 2020. He received donations from organizations that regularly donate to Democratic candidates, including the Michigan Democratic Party. Bernstein was endorsed by individuals and organizations that regularly endorse Democrats, including the Michigan Education Association. At the time of his appointment, Michigan was a Republican trifecta.
State supreme court judicial selection in Michigan
- See also: Judicial selection in Michigan
The seven justices of the Michigan Supreme Court are chosen by the Michigan method in which a partisan nomination is followed by nonpartisan elections.[8] Incumbent judges seeking re-election may file an affidavit of candidacy requesting to be placed on the ballot, while non-incumbent candidates must either file a nominating petition or obtain a partisan nomination at a party convention. Incumbency is noted on the ballot, though party affiliation is not. Judges serve eight-year terms and must be re-elected if they wish to remain on the court.[9]
Qualifications
To be elected to the supreme court, a judge must:
- be a qualified elector;
- be licensed to practice law in the state;
- have at least five years of law practice experience;
- be under the age of 70.[9]
Chief justice
The chief justice of the court is elected by his or her fellow justices and serves a two-year term[9]
Vacancies
In the event of a midterm vacancy, the governor appoints a temporary replacement to serve until the next general election. At the governor's request, the state bar's standing committee on judicial qualifications interviews, evaluates, and rates all candidates, submitting a confidential report to the governor. However, the governor is not required to request candidates from the committee, nor is the governor bound by the committee's evaluations.[9]
The map below highlights how vacancies are filled in state supreme courts across the country.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ We calculated confidence scores by collecting several data points such as party registration, donations, and previous political campaigns.
- ↑ The five possible confidence scores were: Strong Democrat, Mild Democrat, Indeterminate, Mild Republican, and Strong Republican.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedfree - ↑ The Sam Bernstein Law Firm, "Our Attorneys," accessed September 16, 2014
- ↑ Mlive, "Money, endorsements - including from US Sen. John McCain - flow into Michigan Supreme Court race," archived October 30, 2014
- ↑ The seven factors were party registration, donations made to partisan candidates, donations made to political parties, donations received from political parties or bodies with clear political affiliation, participation in political campaigns, the partisanship of the body responsible for appointing the justice, and state trifecta status when the justice joined the court.
- ↑ An Indeterminate score indicates that there is either not enough information about the justice’s partisan affiliations or that our research found conflicting partisan affiliations.
- ↑ American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Michigan," archived October 2, 2014
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 National Center for State Courts, "Methods of Judicial Selection," accessed August 27, 2021
| 2022 State Judicial Elections | ||
|---|---|---|
| State supreme court elections by state | Alabama • Alaska • Arizona • Arkansas • California • Florida • Georgia • Idaho • Illinois • Kansas • Kentucky • Louisiana • Maryland • Michigan • Minnesota • Missouri • Montana • Nebraska • Nevada • North Dakota • North Carolina • Ohio • Oklahoma • Oregon • South Dakota • Tennessee • Texas • Utah • Washington |  |
| Intermediate appellate court elections by state | Arizona • Arkansas • California • Colorado • Florida • Georgia • Idaho • Illinois • Indiana • Iowa • Kansas • Kentucky • Louisiana • Maryland • Michigan • Minnesota • Mississippi • Missouri • Nebraska • Nevada • New Mexico • North Carolina • Ohio • Oklahoma • Oregon • Tennessee • Texas • Washington • Wisconsin |
| Ballotpedia | |
|---|---|
| About | |
Executive: Leslie Graves, President • Gwen Beattie, Chief Operating Officer Communications: Alison Graves • Carley Allensworth • Abigail Campbell • Sarah Groat • Nathaniel Harwood • Dillon Redmond • Erica Shumaker Contributors: Scott Rasmussen | |
| Editorial Content | Geoff Pallay, Director of Editorial Content and Editor-in-Chief • Ken Carbullido, Vice President of Election Product and Technology Strategy • Norm Leahy, Senior Editor • Daniel Anderson, Managing Editor • Ryan Byrne, Managing Editor • Cory Eucalitto, Managing Editor • Mandy Gillip, Managing Editor • Doug Kronaizl, Local Elections Project Manager • Jaclyn Beran • Marielle Bricker • Joseph Brusgard • Emma Burlingame • Kelly Coyle • Thomas Ellis • Frank Festa • Nicole Fisher • Brianna Hosea • Joseph Greaney • Thomas Grobben • Jaime Healy-Plotkin • Tyler King • Glorie Martinez • Nathan Maxwell • Ellie Mikus • Jackie Mitchell • Ellen Morrissey • Mackenzie Murphy • Kaley Platek • Samantha Post • Adam Powell • Ethan Rice • Spencer Richardson • Victoria Rose • Briana Ryan • Myj Saintyl • Maddy Salucka • Maddie Sinclair Johnson • Abbey Smith • Alexis Thacker • Janie Valentine • Joel Williams • Samuel Wonacott • Trenton Woodcox • Mercedes Yanora |
 |
State of Michigan Lansing (capital) |
|---|---|
| Elections |
What's on my ballot? | Elections in 2025 | How to vote | How to run for office | Ballot measures |
| Government |
Who represents me? | U.S. President | U.S. Congress | Federal courts | State executives | State legislature | State and local courts | Counties | Cities | School districts | Public policy |