July 25, 2008 10:48 AM CST by Michelle Lore Associate Editor

Six vie for seat vacated by Judge Wexler; all plan a nonpartisan race

With a half dozen lawyers vying for a single open seat on the bench, Hennepin County voters are ensured of an interesting judicial race.

Initially, seven attorneys filed for the spot being vacated by retiring Judge Thomas Wexler, but one — Minneapolis attorney Nick Slade — dropped out of the race shortly after entering it. The remaining candidates include three assistant Hennepin County attorneys, an assistant public defender, a Family Court Referee and an attorney in private practice.

None of the candidates were surprised at the number of people vying for the spot, and some expected there to be even more. When Hennepin County last had an open seat in 2004 — the result of Judge Harvey Ginsburg’s medical disability retirement — eight attorneys sought the position. (One candidate wound up withdrawing his name then as well.) Victorious in that race was Susan Burke, who left her position as an assistant U.S. Attorney to assume the judgeship.

Wexler, who could not have completed another six-year term before reaching the mandatory retirement age of 70, is leaving the bench after serving for 18 years. He faced a challenge to his seat six years ago from Golden Valley attorney Jill Clark, who this year is one of three people seeking the spot on the Minnesota Supreme Court occupied by Justice Lorie Gildea.

The candidates running for Wexler’s seat have varying reasons for doing so, but for the most part, being a judge is something they’ve all considered for some time. And with a vacant spot up for grabs — a relatively rare occurrence — they felt the time was right to take a stab at it.

“When I heard there was an open seat, that clinched it for me,” assistant Hennepin County attorney Cheri Sudit told Minnesota Lawyer last week.

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“I enjoy the problem solving part of [my job],” said Hennepin County Family Court Referee David Piper. “And I wanted to take it a step further.”

First-timers

While four of the six candidates have sought seats on the bench through the appointment process, only one has run in a judicial election before. Minneapolis commercial litigator Thomas Sheran, whose father, Robert, served on the Minnesota Supreme Court, ran for the open Hennepin County seat four years ago, but was eliminated in the primary.

One candidate, however, assistant Hennepin County attorney Jane Ranum, has been through the legislative election process on five separate occasions, having previously served 16 years as a lawmaker in the Minnesota Senate.

Ranum said that while her legislative background may give her a slight advantage in terms of name recognition, running for a judgeship is much different from running for the state Senate. As examples, she pointed to the prohibitions on direct monetary solicitation and speech that would imply how the judicial candidate would rule on an issue.

Running for a judicial seat in Hennepin County is also a much larger enterprise than running for a district seat in the state Senate, Ranum added.

Partisan politics

All of the candidates said they are opposed to infusing partisan politics into judicial campaigns, despite the loosening of restrictions on judicial candidates’ speech several years ago in Republican Party of Minnesota, et al. v. White, et al..

In White, the U.S. Supreme Court — and the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on remand — knocked down campaign rules barring Minnesota judicial candidates from announcing their political views, seeking and using the endorsement of political parties, attending political gatherings and personally soliciting money by letter or from large groups.

Rather than seek party endorsements or discuss their views on hot-button political issues, the candidates said they will talk about things like their community involvement, their legal experience, their qualifications for the job and the issues facing the justice system.

“The No. 1 criterion to be a good judge is to be fair,” said Sudit. “My opinion on certain issues really is not relevant. It’s most important to be open-minded and unbiased.”

All the candidates expressed particular concern over the perception of impropriety created when judicial candidates speak out on divisive political topics.

“Speaking out on issues creates an appearance of the lack of impartiality,” said assistant Hennepin County attorney Elizabeth Cutter. “And my own views as a District Court judge aren’t relevant. My job is to apply the law as the Legislature provides and as interpreted by the appellate courts.”

Sheran agreed. “I think getting partisan politics [into the race] would be … terribly damaging to the perception of integrity that the court has to rely on to be effective.”

The candidates said they intend to stick to traditional campaign tactics, including setting up websites, putting up lawn signs, advertising in newspapers and magazines, sending out e-mails and letters and getting out and talking to as many people as they can.

For most, doing all that while continuing to work full-time will make the next several weeks — or months for those who make it through the Sept. 9 primary — very busy.

Assistant Hennepin County public defender Paula Brummel, who is also the executive director of the Minnesota Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, said she’s running a grassroots operation and will take days off “here and there” to campaign. “But I can’t afford to take large chunks of time off,” she added.

Money matters

The candidates pointed out that exactly what they do and how much they do depends in part on the amount of money their campaign committee is able to raise.

“This is not a campaign that has deep pockets,” said Brummel, who hopes to raise between $10,000 and $15,000. “I think [that] is a comfortable amount of money to run a successful campaign,” she said.

But other candidates believe it will take much more than that.

Cutter said that in 2004, Burke spent $112,000 on her successful bid for an open seat. “I hope that doesn’t happen. … That was a lot of money,” she noted.

Piper said he has several fundraisers planned and thinks he’ll need to raise between $100,000 and $150,000 to run a successful campaign.

While Sudit hasn’t planned any fundraisers, she hopes to raise money by donations through her website. “I hope I can do it on a low budget,” she said. “I don’t want this to be based on how much I raised.”

All of the candidates acknowledge that regardless of how much money they raise, it will be a tough race.

Just getting people to come out and vote in the primary will be a big challenge, according to Sudit.

Piper said that he’s “kind of a shy guy” so asking people for money, albeit indirectly through his campaign committee, will be hard for him.

Cutter said getting her name out will be the biggest challenge. “And having the resources to do that effectively,” she added.

Brummel said that raising enough money and running a campaign almost completely on outside contributions will be her biggest challenge. She added that countering public perception that a prosecutor would make a better judge is another challenge that she, as a public defender, will work hard to overcome.