Rick Brand: Scramble for judicial slots in Suffolk
District Court Judge Al Graf is among 26 judges in Suffolk County who have filed paperwork expressing interest in running for higher judicial office. Credit: Richard T. Slattery
Twenty-six Suffolk judges already have filed papers with the administrative judge’s office expressing interest in running for higher judicial office.
Another 10 attorneys have applied for ratings before the Suffolk Bar Association to qualify as judicial candidates.
It’s all due to the unusually large number of judicial posts — four Supreme Court judgeships, four spots each for County Court and Family Court and seven District Court positions — up for grabs in November.
Of the judges looking to move up, 15 are District Court judges, the lowest judicial rung, six are County Court judges and three are on Family Court.
Two State Supreme Court justices, Paul Baisley and David Riley, already were looking to run for the patronage-rich Surrogate judgeship.
Among those looking to move up is District Court Judge Al Graf, who only took over last month after seven years as a Republican state Assembly member.
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