{"id":2323599,"date":"2024-08-13T07:45:01","date_gmt":"2024-08-13T11:45:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mi-supreme-court-candidates-sound-off-on-election-overreach\/"},"modified":"2024-08-13T07:52:25","modified_gmt":"2024-08-13T11:52:25","slug":"mi-supreme-court-candidates-sound-off-on-election-overreach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mi-supreme-court-candidates-sound-off-on-election-overreach\/","title":{"rendered":"MI Supreme Court Candidates Sound Off On Election &#8216;Overreach&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmi-supreme-court-candidates-sound-off-on-election-overreach%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2323599&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The \u2064debate featuring candidates seeking the Republican nomination for the Michigan Supreme Court highlighted differing opinions on current judicial issues, executive orders\u200b regarding election \u200cadministration, and the limits of free speech. Candidates Mark Boonstra, Patrick William O\u2019Grady, \u2063and others participated,\u200d emphasizing their judicial philosophies and experiences.<\/p>\n<p>Patrice Johnson, chair of Pure\u200c Integrity Michigan Elections,\u2064 remarked on the rarity of such\u2063 debates for judicial races, allowing voters \u2064to\u200d compare \u2062candidates directly.\u2062 The discussion included President Joe Biden&#8217;s executive order aimed at bolstering voter registration and turnout, which \u2064has faced backlash\u200b for potential overreach \u200dand\u2062 targeting specific\u200b voting blocs.<\/p>\n<p>O\u2019Grady referenced \u2064a \u200clawsuit by the Republican National Committee which challenged Secretary of State Jocelyn\u200b Benson&#8217;s guidance on\u200d absentee \u2063ballot signature validity. He expressed concerns over administrative\u200b guidelines conflicting with existing law. Boonstra also \u200dcriticized what he saw as government overreach by state officials during the pandemic.<\/p>\n<p>When asked about \u2062limitations on free speech, \u2063particularly in light \u200dof Attorney General Dana \u2062Nessel&#8217;s threats to prosecute individuals for allegedly posting\u2063 misleading election information,\u200c candidates had \u2064varied perspectives. O&#8217;Grady acknowledged potential legal restrictions on speech, while Taylor\u2063 argued that such actions reflect a troubling trend of government weaponization against free expression.<\/p>\n<p>The candidates largely shared similar \u200djudicial philosophies, advocating a &#8220;rule-of-law&#8221; approach.\u200d They voiced \u200baspirations to restore predictability in court rulings and urged\u2063 a return to a conservative judicial interpretation of the law. Fink emphasized his efforts \u2064in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democrat-lawmakers-criticize-dissenters-to-killing-filibuster\/\" title=\"Democrat lawmakers criticize dissenters to killing filibuster\">promoting election integrity<\/a>, highlighting legislation he sponsored to keep voter rolls current.<\/p>\n<p>the debate served\u2062 as a \u200cplatform for candidates to \u2064articulate \u2063their\u2062 positions on \u2062vital judicial and electoral issues as they seek to influence the \u200bfuture makeup of the Michigan Supreme Court, which they perceive as currently leaning left ideologically.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Four candidates seeking the Republican nomination for the Michigan Supreme Court gathered Thursday night to explain their judicial philosophies and sound off on what they consider &ldquo;overreach&rdquo; from election officials at FloodGate Church near Hartland, Michigan.<\/p>\n<p>According to a press release, Pure Integrity Michigan Elections and Stand Up Livingston County <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/mirsnews\/videos\/505956655455999\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">hosted<\/a> the debate, which showed how the candidates compare on election integrity and the rule of law.<\/p>\n<p>State Supreme Court elections in Michigan are considered nonpartisan, but candidates do seek a state party&rsquo;s nomination to get on the November ballot, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bridgemi.com\/michigan-government\/whos-running-michigan-supreme-court-2024\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">according<\/a> to Bridge Michigan.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.alexandriaforjustice.com\/alexandria-taylor\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Alexandria Taylor<\/a>, state Rep. <a href=\"https:\/\/gophouse.org\/member\/repandrewfink\/posts\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Andrew Fink<\/a>, Appeals Judge <a href=\"https:\/\/ballotpedia.org\/Mark_Boonstra\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Mark Boonstra<\/a>, and Circuit Judge <a href=\"https:\/\/ballotpedia.org\/Patrick_W._O%27Grady\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Patrick William O&rsquo;Grady<\/a> &mdash; all running for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bridgemi.com\/michigan-government\/whos-running-michigan-supreme-court-2024\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Republican<\/a> nomination &mdash; attended the debate.<\/p>\n<p>Patrice Johnson, chair of Pure Integrity Michigan Elections, said in a press release she thinks the debate was an unusual event for judicial races.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;People don&rsquo;t usually have a chance to see judicial candidates side by side in order to compare their ideologies and skill sets,&rdquo; Johnson said. &ldquo;It seemed like the right thing to do.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<h4>Executive Orders in Elections<\/h4>\n<p>Moderators asked candidates for their thoughts on programs like President Joe Biden&rsquo;s &ldquo;Bidenbucks&rdquo; executive order, which directed federal agencies to <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/02\/29\/9-ways-the-feds-are-using-bidenbucks-to-rig-the-2024-election\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">boost<\/a> voter registration and get-out-the-vote efforts without Congress&rsquo; approval. As The Federalist previously reported, the program has drawn criticism for <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/02\/28\/what-else-is-biden-hiding-in-his-plan-to-use-bidenbucks-to-get-out-the-likely-democrat-vote\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">targeting<\/a> left-wing voting blocs and inviting third-party meddling in election administration, much like the &ldquo;Zuckbucks&rdquo; operation in 2020.<\/p>\n<p>O&rsquo;Grady appeared to cite a recent Republican National Committee lawsuit challenging Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson&rsquo;s 2020 direction to local clerks to presume validity for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/zuckerberg-used-a-tax-exempt-foundation-to-help-biden-fix-the-2020-election\/\" title=\"Zuckerberg Used a Tax-Exempt Foundation to Help Biden Fix the 2020 Election\">absentee ballot signatures<\/a>. As The Federalist <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/06\/13\/judge-michigan-secretary-of-states-lax-ballot-signature-guidance-is-unconstitutional\/#:~:text=A%20judge%20ruled%20Wednesday%20that,absentee%20ballot%20signatures%20is%20unconstitutional.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a>, a judge struck down the guidance as unconstitutional in June.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;One of those lawsuits was actually against our own secretary of state, and that&rsquo;s because she was violating the law, and instead was sending instructions out to the clerks&rsquo; office to ignore certain things,&rdquo; O&rsquo;Grady said. &ldquo;So you have the law saying one thing, but then you have these administrative guidelines.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Boonstra used Benson and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, D-Mich., as examples of government overreach.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I have stood up to our governor when she exercised what I thought were totalitarian actions during the pandemic,&rdquo; Boonstra said. &ldquo;I have stood up when the secretary of state, I think, was not following proper procedures on elections and ballots.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Fink said the question is likely a federal issue, he could not answer definitely without hearing more about the situation.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Presupposing that there&rsquo;s a lack of congressional approval, it seems to me like the president&rsquo;s probably in trouble on this one,&rdquo; Fink said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Taylor, a Detroit attorney, said the program seemed &ldquo;unconstitutional&rdquo; and called it &ldquo;overreach.&rdquo; She referenced her work on a 2022 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlive.com\/politics\/2023\/06\/michigan-gop-chair-others-fined-58k-for-frivolous-election-fraud-suit.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">lawsuit<\/a> alleging voter fraud in Detroit, which was deemed &ldquo;frivolous&rdquo; and for which she and other plaintiffs were fined a total of $58,000.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The law said one thing, and you had the secretary of state saying something different,&rdquo; Taylor said.<\/p>\n<h4>Limiting Free Speech<\/h4>\n<p>The moderators asked candidates about limiting constitutional rights like free speech, while the question projected behind the candidates cited Attorney General Dana Nessel&rsquo;s recent <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/08\/07\/letter-from-michigan-ag-threatens-resident-with-prosecution-for-misleading-election-information\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">threat<\/a> to prosecute a resident for posting supposedly &ldquo;false&rdquo; and &ldquo;misleading&rdquo; election information.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>O&rsquo;Grady asked if Nessel&rsquo;s threat was part of the question, and the moderator explained he intentionally asked a broader question about free speech to avoid prejudicing the candidates should they oversee this case.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;With free speech or any type of right, there are or can be restrictions. And many of these restrictions, most of us historically have accepted,&rdquo; O&rsquo;Grady said. &ldquo;Whether it&rsquo;s a fundamental right, or whether it&rsquo;s kind of a low-level liberty interest right. If it&rsquo;s a fundamental right, then you&rsquo;re looking at a strict scrutiny basis.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Taylor still addressed Nessel&rsquo;s threat, saying &ldquo;weaponization&rdquo; of the government is one of the reasons she is running for state Supreme Court.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;When I see something like that from Dana Nessel, it&rsquo;s not surprising, because this is what they&rsquo;ve been doing,&rdquo; Taylor said. &ldquo;Whether it&rsquo;s a cease-and-desist, a grievance, a sanction, we are not going to back down.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Boonstra said he thinks judges should consider original intent when deciding issues that could limit free speech.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;You can&rsquo;t yell &lsquo;fire&rsquo; in a crowded theater,&rdquo; Boonstra said. &ldquo;Ultimately, it comes down to, what did the framers of the Constitution mean when they drafted the language, and how does it apply to this world?&rdquo;<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The Constitution either protects something or it does not, according to Fink.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I think the rights are what they are,&rdquo; Fink said. &ldquo;It either is or is not protected by the law. And the difficult task sometimes is to determine whether a given activity, or a given incident, is within or outside the right as originally understood by the drafters.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Cleta Mitchell, founder of the Election Integrity Network, said in a press release she feels the debate was a valuable discussion for conservative Michiganders.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;This is the only opportunity for Republicans to hear from most of their state Supreme Court candidates at the same time,&rdquo; Mitchell said. &ldquo;It couldn&rsquo;t come at a more important time.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Kerri Toloczko, executive director of the EIN, applauded the candidates for placing themselves in the public eye.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Transparency is one of the keys to clean and trusted elections,&rdquo; Toloczko said in the press release. &ldquo;Candidates for all relevant offices should be willing to put their policies and opinions in front of the voters.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<h4>Similar Visions, Different Backgrounds<\/h4>\n<div>\n<p>Boonstra told The Federalist the candidates offered &ldquo;similar judicial philosophies,&rdquo; with a &ldquo;rule-of-law&rdquo; approach of reading and applying the law rather than &ldquo;legislating from the bench.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;All of the candidates seemed to express a similar judicial philosophy while offering differing styles and presenting varying types and levels of experience,&rdquo; Boonstra said. &ldquo;The differences lie primarily in style, background, and experience.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>He cited his experience as a judge on the Michigan Court of Appeals and previous work at a law firm.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I therefore present a track record of written opinions from which the voters can determine how I will decide cases,&rdquo; Boonstra said. <\/p>\n<p>Boonstra cautioned that judicial candidates cannot debate public policy issues as can others, due to the danger of prejudicing themselves against future cases. <\/p>\n<p>So when it comes to issues of election integrity and limiting speech, Boonstra said he would focus on &ldquo;scrupulously&rdquo; applying the Constitution and laws as written, enforcing separation of powers and delegation of authority, &ldquo;rejecting government overreach,&rdquo; and &ldquo;respecting individual rights and liberties.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Boonstra cited several of his election rulings including <em>Michigan Alliance for Retired Americans v. Secretary of State<\/em>, <em>League of Women Voters of Michigan v. Secretary of State<\/em>, and <em>Davis v. Secretary of State<\/em>. <\/p>\n<p>The Michigan Supreme Court is now &ldquo;ideologically left-leaning,&rdquo; according to Boonstra, so electing &ldquo;judicial conservatives&rdquo; could help bring the court back to &ldquo;respectability&rdquo; and the rule of law. <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Originalist&rdquo; judges are currently losing cases in the state Supreme Court, Fink told The Federalist. He said he feels all the candidates described themselves &ldquo;similarly&rdquo; in their hopes for returning the court to ruling based on the written law.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>&ldquo;I think all of us spoke to the desire to have predictable decision making as the court,&rdquo; Fink said, &ldquo;predictable according to the text of the law.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Fink dismissed claims that experience qualifies someone for the job.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Because a person has the job one rung below, he should get the job one run above.&rsquo; That&rsquo;s not how the electorate works,&rdquo; Fink said. &ldquo;Suggestions that I don&rsquo;t have a sufficient track record are obviously laughable.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Fink said he is &ldquo;very proud&rdquo; of his record on election integrity, citing his sponsorship of <a href=\"https:\/\/legislature.mi.gov\/Bills\/Bill?ObjectName=2021-HB-4491\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">House Bill 4491<\/a> which required county clerks to regularly clean deceased residents from the voter rolls.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It required clerks to remove dead voters on a schedule that increases to daily frequency as the Election Day approaches,&rdquo; Fink said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s really the only significant piece of election integrity related legislation that got adopted in the last legislature, and that was my bill.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Taylor told The Federalist she has practiced law for 13 years, citing her aforementioned lawsuit against the City of Detroit clerk, and her work <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlive.com\/news\/grand-rapids\/2022\/11\/judge-sanctions-mypillow-founder-mike-lindell-for-fishing-expedition-into-kent-county-election-records.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">defending<\/a> MyPillow founder Mike Lindell against 2022 claims that his demand for records in Kent County, Michigan caused unnecessary burdens. A judge sanctioned Lindell in the case.<\/p>\n<p>Taylor feels one of her strengths is &ldquo;electability,&rdquo; she said.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I think that&rsquo;s where we&rsquo;ve been failing,&rdquo; Taylor said. &ldquo;I am somebody that will appeal not just to Republicans, but other groups, because it&rsquo;s a nonpartisan race.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Taylor said she is an &ldquo;originalist&rdquo; who believes in interpreting the Constitution and law literally, as intended at the time of passage.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m vehemently opposed to the ideology that it is living and breathing, but that&rsquo;s what we have right now. So I believe in the rule of law,&rdquo; Taylor said.<\/p>\n<p>She said she feels the justice system has bulldozed the 1st Amendment, referencing Nessel&rsquo;s recent <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/08\/07\/letter-from-michigan-ag-threatens-resident-with-prosecution-for-misleading-election-information\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">letter<\/a> that threatened to prosecute a resident for raising questions of election integrity.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;re to the point where you can&rsquo;t even state an opinion, which is, to me, at a dangerous point,&rdquo; Taylor said. &ldquo;This system has even been weaponized against lawyers who are fighting for our election integrity.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The Federalist reached out to O&rsquo;Grady, but did not hear back with comment in time for publication.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h4>Who Else Is In The Race?<\/h4>\n<div>\n<p>The other <a href=\"https:\/\/www.livingstondaily.com\/story\/news\/politics\/elections\/2024\/08\/12\/michigan-supreme-court-candidates-speak-hartland-forum\/74739634007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">candidates<\/a> are Matthew DePerno, who is seeking the Republican nomination, Kyra Harris Bolden, and Kimberly Ann Thomas, according to Livingston Daily. Both Thomas and Bolden are seeking the Democratic nomination. The Federalist reached out to all three, but only DePerno offered comment in time for publication.<\/p>\n<p>DePerno <a href=\"https:\/\/ballotpedia.org\/Matthew_DePerno#:~:text=Matthew%20DePerno%20(Republican%20Party)%20ran,election%20on%20November%208%2C%202022.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ran<\/a> unsuccessfully for Michigan attorney general in 2022. He is currently facing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.detroitnews.com\/story\/news\/politics\/2024\/06\/12\/matt-deperno-while-facing-charges-runs-for-michigan-supreme-court\/74077407007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">charges<\/a> for mishandling voting equipment, according to The Detroit News. <\/p>\n<p>DePerno told The Federalist he did not attend because he said organizers set a date without consulting his campaign, he was told the rules were &ldquo;in flux,&rdquo; and he was concerned it was &ldquo;poorly conceived.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The forum was poorly conceived and did not have the best interest of the candidates in mind,&rdquo; DePerno said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m surprised other candidates attended.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>He was concerned the event would include questions which could prejudice candidates to future cases, he said, and he felt organizers &ldquo;could not alleviate this concern.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I had concerns about questions regarding judicial philosophy that could later be used to disqualify a justice from future cases,&rdquo; DePerno said. &ldquo;This is a bad idea.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Bolden took <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bridgemi.com\/michigan-government\/whos-running-michigan-supreme-court-2024\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">office<\/a> at the behest of Whitmer in November 2022, replacing former Justice Bridget McCormack when she retired, according to Bridge Michigan. To finish McCormack&rsquo;s term, which ends in 2029, she must run for reelection.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas is a University of Michigan Law professor, according to Bridge Michigan. Whitmer appointed her to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigan.gov\/whitmer\/news\/press-releases\/2022\/07\/18\/task-force-on-juvenile-justice-reform-approves-blueprint-for-transforming-juvenile-justice\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Task Force on Juvenile Justice Reform<\/a>, which aims to &ldquo;transform&rdquo; Michigan&rsquo;s juvenile justice system. She <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bridgemi.com\/michigan-government\/whos-running-michigan-supreme-court-2024\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">served<\/a> on the task force from 2021-2022, and previously worked as a trial lawyer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<hr>\n<p>      Logan Washburn is a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/lawsuit-clark-county-keeps-commercial-addresses-on-voter-rolls\/\" title=\"Lawsuit: Clark County Keeps Commercial Addresses On Voter Rolls\">staff writer covering election integrity<\/a>. He graduated from Hillsdale College, served as Christopher Rufo&#8217;s editorial assistant, and has bylines in The Wall Street Journal, The Tennessean, and The Daily Caller. Logan is originally from Central Oregon but now lives in rural Michigan.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Four candidates vying for the Republican nomination for the Michigan Supreme Court convened on Thursday evening at FloodGate Church near Hartland, Michigan, to discuss their judicial philosophies and express concerns about what they view as &#8220;overreach&#8221; by election officials. The debate was organized by Pure Integrity Michigan Elections and Stand Up Livingston County, highlighting the candidates&#8217; positions on election integrity and adherence to the rule of law. Although state Supreme Court elections in Michigan are officially nonpartisan, candidates seek nominations from state parties to appear on the November ballot.<\/p>\n<p>The participants included Alexandria Taylor, State Rep. Andrew Fink, Appeals Judge Mark Boonstra, and Circuit Judge Patrick William O\u2019Grady. Patrice Johnson, chair of Pure Integrity Michigan Elections, noted that such debates are rare in judicial races: \u201cPeople don\u2019t usually have a chance to see judicial candidates side by side in order to compare their ideologies and skill sets,\u201d she remarked.<\/p>\n<p>During the debate, moderators prompted candidates for their views on initiatives like President Joe Biden\u2019s executive order aimed at enhancing voter registration efforts without congressional approval\u2014a move criticized for potentially favoring left-leaning voting blocs. O\u2019Grady referenced a recent lawsuit from the Republican National Committee against Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson regarding her guidance on absentee ballot signature verification that was later deemed unconstitutional.<\/p>\n<p>Boonstra criticized both Benson and Governor Gretchen Whitmer for what he described as government overreach during the pandemic. Fink expressed uncertainty about federal implications but suggested that Biden might face legal challenges due to lack of congressional backing. Taylor labeled Biden&#8217;s initiative as &#8220;unconstitutional&#8221; based on her experiences with a 2022 lawsuit alleging voter fraud in Detroit.<\/p>\n<p>The discussion also touched upon free speech limitations following Attorney General Dana Nessel&#8217;s threat to prosecute an individual over allegedly false election information. O\u2019Grady acknowledged potential restrictions on free speech while emphasizing original intent when interpreting constitutional rights. Taylor condemned Nessel\u2019s actions as indicative of governmental &#8220;weaponization,&#8221; asserting her candidacy is partly motivated by such issues.<\/p>\n<p>Boonstra emphasized that judges should focus strictly on applying laws rather than engaging in public policy debates due to potential biases against future cases. He highlighted his commitment to upholding constitutional principles while addressing election integrity matters through his previous rulings.<\/p>\n<p>Overall, Boonstra noted similarities among candidate philosophies centered around rule-of-law principles but acknowledged differences in style and experience among them\u2014citing his own background as a judge compared with others&#8217; experiences.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to these four candidates seeking Republican nominations are Matthew DePerno (who did not attend) along with Kyra Harris Bolden and Kimberly Ann Thomas competing for Democratic nominations; DePerno cited scheduling conflicts and concerns about how questions could affect future cases as reasons for his absence from this debate event<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":507,"featured_media":2323600,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/IMG_0023-scaled-e1723548743489.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[33399,37973,37974,37972,37975],"class_list":["post-2323599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist","tag-2024-elections","tag-election-overreach","tag-judicial-candidates","tag-mi-supreme-court","tag-michigan-politics"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/IMG_0023-scaled-e1723548743489.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2323599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/507"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2323599"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2323599\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2323600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2323599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2323599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2323599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}