Minnesota judicial elections 2024, Part 2
I’ve been forwarded, or have otherwise come across, some more information about a few of the races I covered in Part 1. First, there is more to two of the metro races than I indicated.
Mulrooney will be on the election ballot in November, as will his challenger Cheeyein “Winona” Yang. Yang graduated from Mitchell Hamline School of Law in 2021 and was accepted to the Minnesota State Bar that December. She currently serves as a legislative aide to Ramsey County Commissioner Mai Chong Xiong, the first Hmong county board member in Ramsey County…
Judicial elections can be sleepy affairs, but the match-up between an experienced sitting judge and a new attorney with strong political and ethnic ties courting popular appeal has caused a quiet stir within the courtrooms of the Second Judicial District, which spans Ramsey County. Most states require 10 years of legal practice before allowing a person to become (a) judge, though Minnesota has no such requirement…
Paul Yang — the candidate, not the judge — writes on his campaign website that he has “15+ years combined legal and community experience” and “a passion for public service.” Few other details are listed. He was admitted to the Minnesota State Bar in 2012.
(Pioneer Press)
Naomi Kritzer, who I quoted in Part 1, also has posts about these, here and here.
Though Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has a solid record when it comes to appointing women and/or non-European Americans to the state judiciary, I get why those in an underrepresented group are impatient to see more. I also get that anything that might move Minnesota toward the high-profile, highly politicized judicial races seen in some other states is in all likelihood not at all a good thing in the bigger picture. As is often the case in many contexts I don’t have a solution that will make everyone happy. “Everyone should just do what I say” never cuts it in the real world.
This, from the Minnesota Reformer, has more on judicial candidate Nathan Hansen. What a deal.
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