How a Judge Becomes a Judge Part 1: Civil Court

One of the most honorable duties of the New York County Democratic Committee is to endorse candidates in the Democratic Primary for Civil Court Judge races. Since Judicial races are often under most peoples’ radar, these endorsements can be very important.

In Manhattan, we have a marquee process. The Judicial Committee, a sub-committee of the County Committee composed of a District Leader from each Assembly District (AD), creates an independent screening panel, attended by representatives from third party organizations. The panel proceeds with a thorough review of all applicants and endorses between two and three candidates for each open seat; some of which are County wide and some of which fall within specific districts (but we’ll get into that another time).

Next, the County Executive Board (composed of all the District Leaders and the elected County Leader) votes on which of these candidates will be the endorsed candidate in the Primary. The winner of that, of course, goes to run in the general election. The winner of that, is a judge.

Sound complicated? Here’s a handy graphic.

Civil Court Infographic 3