The Ballot Brief
Michigan judges
November 2026

Judges 2026 › Michigan › Judges on the ballot

Judges on the Michigan ballot in November 2026

Michigan voters see 1 statewide court race, 65 county-level judicial races in the counties we track on the November 3, 2026 ballot in the races The Ballot Brief tracks. Retention questions are a yes-or-no vote on keeping a sitting judge; elected seats work like any other race.

Judicial retention votes: yes or no on keeping a judge

Michigan Supreme Court

Megan Kathleen Cavanagh

Election

Chief Justice Cavanagh has served on the Michigan Supreme Court since January 2019, after her 2018 election, and has been Chief Justice since April 2025. Before the bench she spent over fifteen years as an appellate attorney and shareholder at Garan Lucow Miller P.C. in Detroit; she holds a law degree from Wayne State University.

On the court since 2019

Noah P. Hood

Election

Justice Hood was appointed to the Michigan Supreme Court by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on April 23, 2025, to a partial term. He previously served on the Michigan Court of Appeals (appointed 2022) and the Wayne County Third Circuit Court (appointed 2019), and was an assistant U.S. attorney; he holds a law degree from Harvard Law School.

Appointed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (2025) · On the court since 2025

Michael Warren

Election

Michael Warren is a candidate for the Michigan Supreme Court and currently serves as an Oakland County Circuit Court judge, first appointed by Gov. John Engler in 2002 and since re-elected. Before the bench he was a partner at Honigman Miller Schwartz & Cohn LLP handling appellate and corporate litigation.

Casandra Morse-Bills

Election

Casandra Morse-Bills is a candidate for the Michigan Supreme Court and currently serves as presiding judge of the 23rd Judicial Circuit, covering Alcona, Arenac, Iosco and Oscoda counties, hearing probate, district and circuit court matters. She was first elected to the bench in 2018 and previously served as Oscoda County prosecutor.

Thomas W. Howe

Election

Thomas W. Howe, of Fenton, Michigan, is a candidate for the Michigan Supreme Court, nominated by party convention (filed July 20, 2026). No further biographical detail could be confirmed on an official government or court source.

Jody White

Election

Jody White, of Livonia, Michigan, is a candidate for the Michigan Supreme Court, nominated by party convention (filed July 20, 2026). No further biographical detail could be confirmed on an official government or court source.

Michigan Court of Appeals

Mariam Saad Bazzi

Election1st District

Judge Bazzi was appointed to the Michigan Court of Appeals, First District, by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on April 23, 2025, becoming the state's first Arab American and Muslim American appellate judge. She previously served on the Wayne County Third Circuit Court, first appointed by Gov. Rick Snyder in 2017; she holds a law degree from Wayne State University Law School.

Appointed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (2025) · On the court since 2025

Anica Letica

Election1st District

Judge Letica was appointed to the Michigan Court of Appeals, First District, by Gov. Rick Snyder in 2018. She previously handled appellate matters for the Michigan Department of Attorney General's Criminal Division and worked in the Oakland County Prosecutor's Office; she holds a law degree from Wayne State University.

Appointed by Gov. Rick Snyder (2018) · On the court since 2018

Christopher M. Murray

Election1st District

Judge Murray has served on the Michigan Court of Appeals since 2002 and was appointed Chief Judge in April 2018. He previously served on the Wayne Circuit Court and as Deputy Legal Counsel to Gov. John Engler; he holds a law degree from the University of Detroit School of Law.

On the court since 2002

Andrew J. Lievense

Election1st District

Judge Lievense was appointed to the Michigan Court of Appeals, First District, by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in April 2026 to a partial term ending January 1, 2027. He previously served as an Assistant United States Attorney and as a litigation associate at Honigman LLP; he holds a law degree from the University of Michigan.

Appointed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (2026) · On the court since 2026

Sima G. Patel

Election2nd District

Judge Patel was appointed to the Michigan Court of Appeals by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on February 3, 2022, the first East Indian and Asian American to serve on a Michigan appellate court. She previously was a senior appellate attorney at Fieger Law and clerked for the Michigan Supreme Court; she holds a law degree from Western Michigan University Cooley Law School.

Appointed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (2022) · On the court since 2022

Christopher M. Trebilcock

Election2nd District

Judge Trebilcock was appointed to the Michigan Court of Appeals, Second District, by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in April 2025. He previously was a senior principal at Clark Hill PLC practicing employment, labor and election law, and earlier practiced at Miller Canfield; he holds a law degree from Wake Forest University School of Law.

Appointed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (2025) · On the court since 2025

Mark T. Boonstra

Election3rd District

Judge Boonstra has served on the Michigan Court of Appeals, Third District, since his March 2012 appointment, and was re-elected in 2012, 2014 and 2020. He previously spent 27 years as a senior principal at Miller, Canfield, Paddock and Stone, P.L.C.; he holds a J.D. and M.A. in economics from the University of Michigan.

On the court since 2012

Daniel S. Korobkin

Election3rd District

Judge Korobkin was appointed to the Michigan Court of Appeals, Third District, by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in April 2025 to a partial term. He previously was legal director of the ACLU of Michigan, which he joined as a staff attorney in 2008; he holds a law degree from Yale Law School.

Appointed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (2025) · On the court since 2025

Michael J. Kelly

Election4th District

Judge Kelly has served on the Michigan Court of Appeals, Fourth District, since his election in 2008 and was re-elected in 2020. He previously practiced 20 years as a trial lawyer and teaches criminal law and procedure as an adjunct professor at Ferris State University; he holds a law degree from Detroit College of Law.

On the court since 2008

Allie Greenleaf Maldonado

Election4th District

Judge Maldonado was appointed to the Michigan Court of Appeals by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on December 6, 2022, becoming the first tribal citizen appointed to a Michigan appellate court. She is a citizen of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians and previously served as chief judge of its tribal court; she holds a law degree from the University of Michigan Law School.

Appointed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (2022) · On the court since 2022

Michelle M. Rick

Election4th District

Judge Rick has served on the Michigan Court of Appeals, Fourth District, since January 2021, after her November 2020 election. She previously served as a 29th Circuit Court trial judge from 2007 to 2020, first appointed by Gov. Jennifer Granholm, and earlier as deputy legal counsel to Gov. Granholm; she holds a law degree from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law.

On the court since 2021

How retention votes work

Michigan Supreme Court justices are elected statewide to 8-year terms on a nonpartisan general-election ballot; candidates are nominated by political party conventions (or by petition/affidavit for some candidates) but appear on the ballot without party labels. Michigan Court of Appeals judges are elected by district (1st-4th) to 6-year terms on the same nonpartisan basis. For both, the candidates receiving the most votes, up to the number of open seats, are elected (Michigan Constitution Art. VI, Sec. 2 and Sec. 8; see also the Secretary of State's Judicial Elective Office Manual, https://www.michigan.gov/sos/-/media/Project/Websites/sos/Elections/Ballot-Access/FDC-FC-MAN-2-Judicial-Elective-Office-Manual.pdf).

Source: mi-boe.entellitrak.com, as of 2026-09-04.

Statewide court races

These seats are elected by every voter in Michigan. Open a race for the full page.

Supreme Court Justice (Vote For Two)

Voted statewide: on every Michigan ballot. 4 candidates.

  • Megan K. Cavanagh (D) Incumbent

    Megan K. Cavanagh is the incumbent Chief Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court and an appellate attorney with more than 15 years of appellate practice, per Michigan Public reporting. She was nominated for reelection by the Michigan Democratic Party. No campaign website was found as of September 15, 2026.

  • Noah Hood (D) Incumbent

    Noah Hood is the incumbent on the Michigan Supreme Court, appointed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in April 2025, per Michigan Public reporting. He previously served on the Michigan Court of Appeals and the Third Judicial Circuit Court in Detroit. He was nominated for reelection by the Michigan Democratic Party. No campaign website was found as of September 15, 2026.

  • Michael Warren (R)

    Michael Warren has served as an Oakland County Circuit Court judge for more than two decades, presiding over hundreds of jury trials, per his campaign site. He also teaches business law at Wayne State University and constitutional law at Western Michigan University Cooley Law School, and previously served on the State Board of Education, per his campaign site. He holds a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School and a B.A. from Wayne State University.

    Top Priorities
    • Interpreting the law as written, per the campaign site
  • Casandra Morse-Bills (R)

    Casandra Morse-Bills is the presiding judge of the 23rd Judicial Circuit, elected in 2018 and re-elected in 2024, presiding over probate, district and circuit courts across four counties, per her campaign site. She previously served as Oscoda County Prosecuting Attorney and holds a J.D. from Thomas M. Cooley Law School, per her campaign site.

    Top Priorities
    • Applying the law as written rather than reshaping it
    • Judicial temperament and respectful courtroom conduct
    Per the campaign site.

County and trial-court judicial races we track

Trial judges, county courts and other judicial offices from the county pages we have built (16 counties so far). Each link opens that race's page.

Everything else on your Michigan ballot · Your exact ballot by ZIP code