Sarah Stewart wins Republican nomination for Alabama Supreme Court chief justice
Among the notable races this Super Tuesday was the primary vote for the next chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court. Justice Sarah Stewart, who has been on the court since 2018, snagged the Republican nomination, defeating former state Sen. Bryan Taylor.
She won 60.12% of the Montgomery County vote with 9,161 votes, according to unofficial results from the Montgomery County Probate Office.
Stewart will now face off against the Democratic nominee Circuit Judge Greg Griffin in the general election this fall. Griffin was unopposed in the Democratic primary.
This state Supreme Court election garnered national attention because of the court’s recent ruling involving in vitro fertilization. Last month, the Alabama Supreme Court recognized frozen embryos as maintaining the same legal protections as children, and there was significant backlash from Republicans and Democrats alike.
Stewart joined the majority opinion on the case, which states that “the overriding public policy of this state recognizes and supports the sanctity of unborn life and the rights of unborn children.”
Neither Stewart or Griffin commented on the ruling after it came down Feb. 16, according to the Alabama Reflector. Stewart wrote an email to the Reflector saying the “case is not final” and that the canons of judicial ethics state that judges may not talk about pending cases.
There are currently multiple proposed bills in the state legislature to address the ramifications of the IVF ruling.
A graduate of the University of Arkansas and Vanderbilt Law School, Stewart practiced law in Mobile for years before becoming a circuit judge. She is a longtime resident of Mobile and received endorsements from Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson, Mobile County District Attorney Keith Blackwood, Mobile County Sheriff Paul Burch and dozens of other local and state officials.
“I will strengthen the trial courts through our relationships with law enforcement, community leaders, the legislature, and the governor,” Stewart states on her campaign website. “The court system is only as good as the people serving the public daily, and I believe we can modernize the trial courts in transformative ways.”
Hadley Hitson covers children's health, education and welfare for the Montgomery Advertiser. She can be reached at hhitson@gannett.com. To support her work, subscribe to the Advertiser.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Sarah Stewart wins nomination for Alabama Supreme Court chief justice
