Seventeen judges and attorneys have put in their bid to be the first state Supreme Court justice appointed by Gov. Katie Hobbs as Chief Justice Robert Brutinel is retiring.
Hobbs is most likely to pick a Democrat and that would knock four of those applicants out of the running.
Though the Arizona Constitution forbids the Commission on Appellate Court Appointments from sending Hobbs names from just one political party.
The state constitution also requires Hobbs to choose from the final list sent to her by that commission.
Unlike the federal process, whoever the state governor finally picks will not need to be approved by the Arizona Legislature.
The commission will meet and take comments on Nov. 22.
The applicants
- Sheena Chiang, an attorney in private practice who said she has always been a Democrat.
- Ann Ching who is a professor at the Arizona State University College of Law. She said she has been a Democrat except for first registering as a libertarian in college.
- Janette Corral, an independent turned Democrat turned independent turned Democrat in 2016. She is a judge on the Maricopa County Superior Court.
- Maria Elena Cruz who is a judge on the state Court of Appeals. She is a Democrat.
- Nicole Davis, deputy director of the Department of Economic Security and the agency's general counsel. She is a political independent.
- Monica Bellapravalu Edelstein, a Maricopa County Superior Court judge who is a Democrat.
- Andrew Gaona who is a Democrat in private practice. He also represented Hobbs in some of the legal battles following the 2022 election as well as more recent court fights with both the head of the Arizona Republican Party and with Senate Republicans over confirmation of her agency directors.
- Andrew Jacobs on the Arizona Court of Appeals who is a Democrat.
- Shalanda Looney a private attorney who initially was a Democrat, registered as a Republican for a year last year and is now again a Democrat.
- Doreen McPaul a Democrat who is the assistant legislative attorney for the Tohono O'odham Nation.
- Robert McWhirter a self-employed attorney and Democrat.
- Regina Nassen, principal assistant attorney for the city of Tucson. Initially a political independent, she registered as a Democrat for 14 years before becoming an independent again in 2014.
- Alexander Samuels, an assistant state attorney general who is a Democrat.
- Amy Sells, a Democrat working for a Phoenix law firm.
- Mikel Steinfeld who supervises appellate attorneys in the Maricopa County Public Defender's Office. He is a Democrat.
- Barry Stratford a partner in a Phoenix law firm. He was a Republican for 13 years, became an independent for four years, says he registered as a Democrat in 2020 to vote in that party's presidential preference primary and is now again a political independent.
- William Wingard, who went from Republican to Democrat and finally to independent in 2011. He is a Maricopa County Superior Court judge.
