FLINT, Mich. (AP) – The Republican race for the Michigan state Supreme Court has been rocked by attorney Matthew DePerno’s decision to drop out hours before his party’s nominating convention on Saturday.
DePerno said in a statement Friday night that his decision was based on how he could best help former President Donald Trump win Michigan and take back the White House. It came just hours before both Republicans and Democrats met to choose nominees for two open seats in the field, with a majority at stake.
DePerno, who rose to prominence by repeating false claims about the 2020 election and is facing felony charges for trying to illegally access and tamper with voting machines, said he spoke with Trump this week and decided he could do more to help Trump win by supporting the state’s absentee ballot. and early voting programs.
“This is not about Matt Deperno. This is not about any politician. This is about which candidates give Republicans the strongest chance of taking Michigan to President Trump,” DePerno said in a statement. “It’s also about who can best work outside the ticket to get our candidates elected. I can use my knowledge of how elections work to get Republicans elected.”
DePerno has denied any wrongdoing in the voting machine tampering case and calls his prosecution politically motivated.
Supreme Court races in Michigan are officially nonpartisan — meaning candidates appear on the ballot without a party label — but nominees are chosen by caucus.
Justices backed by Democrats currently hold a 4-3 majority. Republican wins in both races would flip control of the court. Two Democratic wins would produce a 5-2 supermajority.
Republicans have framed the races as a fight over government overreach, while Democrats say it’s a fight to preserve reproductive rights. Michiganders enshrined the right to abortion into the state constitution in 2022.
Republican delegates gathered in Flint now have a choice between Detroit attorney Alexandria Taylor and District Court Judge Patrick O’Grady for the seat currently held by Judge Kyra Harris Bolden.
At the Democratic convention in Lansing, delegates are expected to nominate Bolden, who has no party challengers and was nominated by Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer after another judge resigned in 2022.
Bolden is the first black woman appointed to the state Supreme Court and would be the first to be elected if she wins in November.
The second seat is currently held by Republican-backed conservative Judge David Viviano, who announced in March that he would not seek re-election.
Court of Appeals Judge Mark Boonstra and state Rep. Andrew Fink are vying for the Republican nomination for the seat, while University of Michigan Law School professor Kimberly Ann Thomas is up against the Democratic nod.
Conventions will almost certainly trigger competitive and expensive general election contests. Candidates seeking Democratic support have raised far more money than their counterparts on the other side, according to campaign finance reports.
