Governor Kelly Ayotte says she is “extremely disappointed” by former New Hampshire Supreme Court Chief Justice Gordon MacDonald’s conduct, detailed by the state’s Judicial Conduct Committee Tuesday.
MacDonald, who had been on medical leave from the court since July, resigned this week after he was found to have violated judicial canons for his role in orchestrating a payout to a longtime professional ally, and then joining fellow justices in issuing a misleading public statement justifying what had occurred.
“Judges should hold themselves to the highest standards and they have to be fair and impartial,” Ayotte told reporters Wednesday. “We will make sure that whoever we put on the court conducts themselves that way.”
Ayotte says she has no timetable for choosing MacDonald’s successor as Chief Justice or naming a justice to fill the vacancy left by his resignation, but will rely on the advice of her judicial selection commission. The governor repeatedly stressed that she plans to weigh her choices carefully, but declined to rule out the possibility of nominating a justice to replace MacDonald before the November elections.
“I will make the decision based on looking at the candidates that we have, whether we need to seek further candidates. Of course I will have to conduct interviews, so of course it depends on how long that process takes,” Ayotte said following a meeting of the Executive Council held at Dartmouth College.
Members of New Hampshire’s Executive Council voted to accept MacDonald’s resignation without discussion during Wednesday’s meeting. They say Ayotte had yet to speak with them about MacDonald’s resignation or lay out a timetable for tapping a successor. Any nominee will need a majority of votes from the five-person council.
“There is no question the right decision was made,” District 4 Councilor John Stephen said of MacDonald’s resignation, “But people need timely justice and I want to move forward expeditiously to make sure we have the right choice as Chief Justice and have someone administer the court.”
But not every councilor was as focused on moving fast. Several noted that election season is a busy time, and that the council is only slated to meet once between now and Election Day.
District 5 Councilor David Wheeler, a Republican, said even if Ayotte’s selection commission had some pre-vetted judicial picks at the ready, it would make sense for the council to “take some time” before deciding who should lead the Judicial Branch.
“I don’t think we should rush it. It’s a very important appointment,” Wheeler said. “I don’t think anything is going to happen before the election.”
The council’s lone Democrat, District 2’s Karen Liot Hill, said there was a lot to consider in the Judicial Conduct Committee’s findings on MacDonald, and stressed that the council and the court each have critical roles to play when it comes to restoring the public’s faith in the judicial branch.
“It’s really important that we have transparency in our process, and that we make sure that we restore trust in the judiciary so people can have confidence that our judges are going to be impartial,” Liot HiIl said.
Cinde Warmington, a Democrat challenging Ayotte in the governor’s race, called on her opponent to wait until after the election before naming a replacement for MacDonald.
“We are just weeks away from an election,” Warmington told reporters on Tuesday. “We should let the voters decide who they want to pick the next justice of the Supreme Court.”
In 2016, as a U.S. Senator, Ayotte joined other Republicans in blocking then-President Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court, citing that upcoming election.
"I believe the American people deserve to have a voice in the direction of the court,” Ayotte said at the time.
