Voters don’t always get to elect their State Supreme Court judges. Often, a single candidate will be cross-endorsed by the major party bosses, stripping voters of the opportunity to choose. But that's not so with a race for a court vacancy this year.
Candidates Amy C. Martoche and Gerald J. Greenan III are competing for a 14-year term in a judicial district that spans eight counties. Both say their own experiences set them apart.
Greenan, a Republican who narrowly lost a race for a judgeship in 2019, said his “31-year career of broad-based prosecutorial, judicial and legal experience makes me uniquely qualified to uphold our legal and constitutional principles in these troubling times.”
Greenan prosecuted violators for more than a decade as a general counsel and then deputy commissioner at the state Liquor Authority. He then served as a commissioner at the state Parole Board, deciding whether to release, by his count, more than 20,000 felons. For the last seven years, he has served as the parole system’s supervising administrative law judge, presiding over thousands of parole violation hearings.
“My deeper, broader and greater experience makes me a better choice for this important position at this important time,” he said.
With judgeships, the bar associations assess the candidates. Greenan did not submit to a rating this year, but the Erie County Bar Association again rated him “not recommended.” Greenan responded weeks ago by calling the association’s judiciary panel "a small committee of lawyers with political bias."
Martoche, a Democrat, is proud of the bar association ratings she has received.
“The Erie and Niagara County Bar Associations rated me ‘well qualified,’ the Women’s Bar Association of Western New York rated me ‘outstanding,’ and the Minority Bar Association of Western New York rated me ‘superior,’ ” she said.
A Buffalo City Court judge since 2011, Martoche says she has heard more than 15,000 cases; presided in the region’s busiest specialty court, the Domestic Violence Court; and created the Human Trafficking Intervention HUB Court, developing “innovative approaches to dispute-resolution." The court earned a grant of more than $527,000 from the Department of Justice, she said.
"In short, my proven track record distinguishes me as the best choice for Supreme Court justice," she said.
Party leaders control the nomination process for judicial candidates, and often those candidates, or their friends and family, donate early on to party coffers. Spouses and close relatives to both candidates have given thousands of dollars to their party’s leadership. The candidates then went about funding their own campaigns.
Martoche has collected more overall. Roughly a month before the election, she had around $61,000 in her campaign's bank account. Greenan, who spent more than $300,000 on his 2019 race, had around $18,000, according to his report to the state Board of Elections.
Martoche, whose television ads began to appear earlier than Greenan's, had spent $181,212 on the race from Jan. 1 to the month before Election Day. Greenan had spent $11,790.
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Name: Gerald J. Greenan III
Age: 57
Party and ballot lines: A Republican running with Conservative and Independence lines.
Background and occupation: Served as a general counsel prosecuting violators for the state Liquor Authority. Also served as the agency's deputy commissioner and as a state parole commissioner. He is the supervising administrative law judge for the parole commission.
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Name: Amy C. Martoche
Age: 49
Party and ballot lines: Democrat, also running on Working Families Party line.
Background and occupation: The first female partner at Connors and Vilardo, now Connors LLP, before being appointed a Buffalo City Court judge in 2011. Won an uncontested election for the post in 2012. Worked for Teach for America in the mid-1990s and later clerked for a federal court judge in the Northern district of New York.
Read the full story from News Washington Bureau Chief Jerry Zremski
