MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice candidate Sarah Stewart, who currently serves as an Associate Justice on the court, says her nearly 20 years of serving in the court system would make her the most prepared candidate in the race.
A resident of Mobile, Stewart was appointed by Gov. Bob Riley in 2006 to the 13th Judicial Circuit as a circuit judge, a position she served in for 13 years, handling more than 20,000 civil and criminal cases. She would later become the president of the Circuit Judges Association, and in 2018, was elected to the Alabama Supreme Court.
She is a graduate of Vanderbilt Law School, where she served as the vice president of the Law Student Association, and practiced law for more than a decade before being appointed as a circuit court judge.
Her nearly two decades of experience, Stewart said, made her well equipped for the role of chief justice, as did her strong relationships with state lawmakers she developed over the years.
“I was very actively involved with the Legislature because I was, at the time, one of the few Republican circuit judges; that’s since changed dramatically, but in 2006, that’s how it was,” Stewart told Alabama Daily News.
“So I’ve been working with the Legislature ever since 2006, and I’ve developed a lot of really strong friendships there which I think help with the role of chief justice. There’s a lot of interaction between the chief justice, the administrative office of court and the Legislature as far as budgeting and statutes that affect how we process cases in the courtroom.”
Those talks with lawmakers, Stewart said, occur on a regular basis, including one discussion as recent as Feb. 14 in which she met with lawmakers to discuss the state’s Veteran Treatment Court.
Both Stewart and her sole Republican opponent, former state senator Bryan Taylor, have suffered from a lack of name recognition, with a recent poll commissioned by Alabama Daily News and Gray Television finding that nearly 80% of Republican voters were still undecided in the race. Of those surveyed, however, 11.8% said they would vote for Stewart versus Taylor’s 8.6%. Enthusiasm among Stewart’s supporters was also greater than Taylor’s, with half of Stewart’s supporters indicating that they would “definitely” vote for her, whereas just over a third of Taylor’s supporters indicated the same.
In terms of fundraising, Stewart has received nearly $1.6 million in campaign contributions, far above Taylor’s $71,000. Much of Stewart’s financial support comes from plaintiffs attorneys and law firms.
Stewart has also received some significant endorsements, including the Alabama Farmers Federation PAC, as well as a swath of district attorneys and sheriffs.
“I’ve got the endorsements of 80% of the Republican district attorneys (and) 80% of the Republican sheriffs all over the state because they’re the everyday users of the court system, and they trust that I’m going to be able to bring that transparency (and) accountability, and they think I can get it done,” she said.
When asked what motivated her to run for the position, Stewart said it ultimately came down to her desire to serve both Alabamians and trial judges across the state, who she said dealt with difficult caseloads mostly involving criminal cases.
“It was really not an easy decision to make, I could have run for reelection to my seat, and most likely not had any opponent or trouble at all like all the other members of the Supreme Court, and I could also retire,” she said. “But, I really decided to run for chief justice because of the citizens and the trial judges.”
As to why voters should support her over her Republican opponent, Stewart leaned on her time spent serving on the bench, as well as the vital relationships she had developed as making her the most qualified candidate in the race.
“It’s almost 19 years of judicial experience that I’d bring to the role of chief justice,” she said. “Whoever goes in this position needs to be able to get their boots on the ground pretty quickly, and I think that’s what I really bring to this role, all this experience and these relationships that I already have, and that I’m not having to build them from scratch.”
Stewart summarized her guiding principles when serving on the bench to one passage from the Bible, Micah 6:8.
“What does the Lord require of you?” Stewart recited. “To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”
The passage, Stewart explained, represented her strive to judicate with a mix of both mercy and justice, something she said she’s exercised throughout her judicial career.
The primary is March 5. There is no Democrat running for the seat.