In a race that was heavily shaped by television commercials branding an incumbent Michigan Supreme Court justice as the “sleeping judge,” voters have chosen his challenger, Diane Hathaway.
Exit polling and data from early reporting precincts shows that Hathaway will unseat Supreme Court Chief Justice Cliff Taylor.
Taylor’s apparent defeat comes in spite of endorsements from the state’s largest newspapers.
The television commercials run by his opponent featured two women who claimed Taylor dozed off while hearing a trial in which they were involved. They were run with great frequency and called the Chief Justice the “sleeping judge” several times.
