Two Democrats win Monroe County Court judgeships, including first black woman

Gary Craig | Democrat and Chronicle

Correction: An earlier version of this story inaccurately identified Fatimat Reid as the first African American elected to Famil Court. She was the first black woman elected to Family Court.

Two Democrats won Monroe County Court judgeships Tuesday, including the first black woman.

Michael Dollinger and Karen Bailey Turner won the two judgeships, while an incumbent, Republican John DeMarco, lost his seat. The election showed the growing countywide power of the Democratic Party and the party's current push to bring diversity to the bench.

Last year, Fatimat Reid became the first black woman to win a Family Court judgeship. This year, Turner, who was born in London and lived as a child in Jamaica, became the first African American to win a County Court judgeship.

In the elections Monroe County voters had the choice of four candidates for the two County Court judgeships — a position almost entirely dedicated to criminal cases.

Republican DeMarco, 59, who has overseen the county's various treatment courts, was seeking his second 10-year term. He was the only incumbent in the race.

Election 2019: Results from Monroe and surrounding counties

Also vying for the judgeships were Republican Kyle Steinebach, 40, an assistant district attorney, and Democrats Dollinger, 40, a former prosecutor and legal assistant to a county court judge, and Turner, 53, a former public defender and now a lawyer with the state's Mental Hygiene Legal Service.

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"Given the historic inequities in the administration of justice, it is important to progress, public confidence and fundamental fairness that our judges reflect the race, ethnicity and gender of the community they serve," Turner told the Democrat and Chronicle before the election.

Three candidates vied for two openings in state Supreme Court, which handles civil and criminal matters across eight counties. Two Republicans — incumbent Justice Matthew Rosenbaum and local lawyer Kevin Nasca — were the winners, based on unofficial results.

Seeking re-election was Rosenbaum, 55, who heads the judicial district's commercial courts. Also seeking election were the Republican Nasca, 53, a Family Court support magistrate and former law clerk to local judges; and Meredith Vacca, 39, an assistant district attorney who now prosecutes cases of alleged abuse against children.

State Supreme Court justices serve 14-year terms.

Two Democrats were unopposed for City Court openings — Judge Melissa Barrett, 50, who was appointed to a vacancy earlier this year, and assistant public defender Nicole Morris, 33.

City Court judges serve 10-year terms.

GCRAIG@Gannett.com

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Background: Four candidates in the mix for two Monroe County Court judgeships

Election 2019: Results from Monroe and surrounding counties