Andrew McDonald

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Andrew J. McDonald
Image of Andrew J. McDonald

Nonpartisan

Connecticut Supreme Court
Tenure

2013 - Present

Term ends

2029

Years in position

12

Prior offices
Connecticut State Senate District 27
Successor: Carlo Leone

Compensation

Base salary

$222,545

Education

Bachelor's

Cornell University, 1988

Law

University of Connecticut School of Law, 1991

Personal
Birthplace
Stamford, Conn.
Contact

Official website 

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Andrew J. McDonald is a judge of the Connecticut Supreme Court. He assumed office on January 24, 2013. His current term ends on January 24, 2029.

McDonald first became a member of the court by appointment. He was nominated by Gov. Dan Malloy (D) on December 27, 2012, and confirmed by the Connecticut General Assembly on January 23, 2013. McDonald replaced Lubbie Harper and became the first openly gay person on the court. On January 15, 2021, the state Senate confirmed McDonald to a second eight-year term ending in 2029.[1][2][3] To read more about judicial selection in Connecticut, click here.

In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship, a study examining the partisan affiliation of all state supreme court justices in the country. As part of this study, we assigned each justice a Confidence Score describing our confidence in the degree of partisanship exhibited by the justices' past partisan behavior, before they joined the court.[4] McDonald received a confidence score of Strong Democrat.[5] Click here to read more about this study.

On January 8, 2018, Gov. Malloy announced that he had nominated McDonald to replace retiring Connecticut Supreme Court Chief Justice Chase Rogers.[6] McDonald's nomination was approved by the Connecticut House of Representatives and rejected by the Connecticut State Senate.[7]

Biography

McDonald was born in Stamford, Connecticut. He received his undergraduate degree from Cornell University in 1988 and his J.D. from the University of Connecticut School of Law in 1991. In law school, he was the managing editor of the Connecticut Journal of International Law. McDonald also has an honorary Doctor of Laws from the Western New England University School of Law.[8]

McDonald is a former partner of Pullman & Comley. He served as a member of the Stamford Board of Representatives from 1993 to 1995 and on the Stamford Board of Finance from 1995 to 1999. McDonald worked as the director of legal affairs and corporation counsel for the city of Stamford from 1999 to 2002. From 2003 to 2011, he served as a Connecticut state senator, representing Stamford and Darien in the 27th District. McDonald was deputy majority leader from 2005 to 2011. After leaving the legislature, he became general counsel for Gov. Malloy. In 2013, he joined the state supreme court.[8]

Senate committee assignments

While serving in the state Senate, McDonald was on the following committees:

Elections

2021

In January 2021, Gov. Ned Lamont (D) renominated McDonald to the state supreme court and the Connecticut General Assembly confirmed him.

2018

See also: Connecticut Supreme Court justice vacancy (February 2018)

On January 8, 2018, Gov. Malloy nominated McDonald to replace former Chief Justice Chase Rogers. While McDonald's nomination was approved by the Connecticut House of Representatives, his nomination failed on a vote of 19 - 16 in the Connecticut State Senate.[9] McDonald was confirmed by the Connecticut House of Representatives on a 75-74 vote on March 12, 2018.[10]

2012

Gov. Dan Malloy nominated McDonald to the Connecticut Supreme Court on December 27, 2012. The Connecticut General Assembly confirmed his nomination on January 23, 2013.[1][2]

2010

See also: Connecticut State Senate elections, 2010

McDonald ran for re-election to the 27th District seat in 2010. He had no primary opposition. He defeated Bob Kolenberg (R) in the November 2 general election.[11]

Connecticut State Senate, District 27 General Election (2010)
Candidates Votes
Green check mark transparent.png Andrew McDonald (D) 14,750
Bob Kolenberg (R) 10,321

2008

On November 4, 2008, McDonald won re-election to the 27th District Seat in the Connecticut State Senate unopposed.[11]

Connecticut State Senate, District 27 (2008)
Candidates Votes
Green check mark transparent.png Andrew McDonald (D) 25,946
David Bedell (Write-in) 5


Analysis

Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship (2020)

See also: Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship and Ballotpedia Courts: Determiners and Dissenters

Last updated: June 15, 2020

In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship, a study examining the partisan affiliation of all state supreme court justices in the country as of June 15, 2020.

The study presented Confidence Scores that represented our confidence in each justice's degree of partisan affiliation. This was not a measure of where a justice fell on an ideological spectrum, but rather a measure of how much confidence we had that a justice was or had been affiliated with a political party. The scores were based on seven factors, including but not limited to party registration.[12]

The five resulting categories of Confidence Scores were:

  • Strong Democrat
  • Mild Democrat
  • Indeterminate[13]
  • Mild Republican
  • Strong Republican

This justice's Confidence Score, as well as the factors contributing to that score, is presented below. The information below was current as of June 2020.

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Andrew
McDonald

Connecticut

  • Partisan Confidence Score:
    Strong Democrat
  • Judicial Selection Method:
    Assisted appointment through governor controlled judicial nominating commission
  • Key Factors:
    • Held political office as a Democrat
    • Was a registered Democrat before 2020
    • Donated less than $2,000 to Democratic candidates


Partisan Profile

Details:

McDonald served as a member of the Connecticut State Senate as a Democrat. He also served as General Counsel to Connecticut Governor Dan Malloy (D). He was a registered member of the Democratic Party prior to 2020. McDonald donated $750 to Democratic candidates and organizations. He was appointed by Gov. Dan Malloy (D) in 2012. At the time of his appointment, Connecticut was a Democratic trifecta.

Other Scores:

In a 2012 study of campaign contributions, McDonald received a campaign finance score of -0.99, indicating a liberal ideological leaning.



State supreme court judicial selection in Connecticut

See also: Judicial selection in Connecticut

The seven justices on the Connecticut Supreme Court are selected through the assisted appointment method. The Connecticut Judicial Selection Commission is responsible for screening candidates and submitting a shortlist to the governor. The commission is made up of 12 members: six appointed by the governor and six appointed by leaders in the state legislature. The governor must appoint a justice from the commission's shortlist and the appointee must then be confirmed by a majority vote of the Connecticut General Assembly.[14][15]

Justices serve for eight years after their appointment. To continue to serve on the court, they must be renominated by the governor and reapproved by the General Assembly.[15]

Qualifications

To serve on this court, a judge must be:

  • a state resident;
  • licensed to practice law in the state; and
  • under the age of 70 (retirement at 70 is mandatory).[16]

Chief justice

The chief justice is appointed by the governor and confirmed by a majority vote of the Connecticut General Assembly. In the event of a vacancy, however, the governor may nominate an associate justice to serve as chief without involving the judicial nominating commission. Chief justices appointed this way will serve out the remainder of their predecessor's term rather than a full eight years, which is the typical term length of the chief justice.[14]

Vacancies

See also: How vacancies are filled in state supreme courts

If a midterm vacancy occurs on the court, the seat is filled as it normally would be if the vacancy occurred at the end of a judge's term. A judicial nominating commission recommends qualified candidates to the governor and the governor selects a successor from that list with legislative approval. The new appointee serves an eight-year term.[17]

The map below highlights how vacancies are filled in state supreme courts across the country.


See also

Connecticut Judicial Selection More Courts
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Courts in Connecticut
Connecticut Appellate Court
Connecticut Supreme Court
Elections: 2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017
Gubernatorial appointments
Judicial selection in Connecticut
Federal courts
State courts
Local courts

External links

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Officeholder

Connecticut Supreme Court

  • Website
    		•

    Footnotes

    1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Darien Daily Voice, "Stamford's McDonald Nominated For State Supreme Court," December 27, 2012
    2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Stratford Patch, "CT Legislature Confirms First Openly Gay Supreme Court Justice," January 24, 2013
    3. ↑ Hartford Courant, "Senate gives Connecticut Supreme Court justice Andrew McDonald final approval for 8 more years on high court," January 15, 2021
    4. ↑ We calculated confidence scores by collecting several data points such as party registration, donations, and previous political campaigns.
    5. ↑ The five possible confidence scores were: Strong Democrat, Mild Democrat, Indeterminate, Mild Republican, and Strong Republican.
    6. ↑ Hartford Courant, "Malloy Nominates Andrew McDonald To Be Nation's First Openly Gay Chief Justice," January 8, 2017
    7. ↑ Hartford Courant, "Connecticut Senate Rejects Andrew McDonald As Chief Justice Of State Supreme Court By 19-16 Vote," March 27, 2018
    8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 State of Connecticut Judicial Branch, "Biographies of Supreme Court Justices, Associate Justice Andrew J. McDonald," accessed June 24, 2021
    9. ↑ Hartford Courant, "Malloy Nominates Andrew McDonald To Be Nation's First Openly Gay Chief Justice," January 8, 2017
    10. ↑ McDonald Confirmation to Chief Justice Squeaks Through House, March 12, 2018
    11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Connecticut Secretary of State, "Election Results Archive," accessed June 24, 2021
    12. ↑ The seven factors were party registration, donations made to partisan candidates, donations made to political parties, donations received from political parties or bodies with clear political affiliation, participation in political campaigns, the partisanship of the body responsible for appointing the justice, and state trifecta status when the justice joined the court.
    13. ↑ An Indeterminate score indicates that there is either not enough information about the justice’s partisan affiliations or that our research found conflicting partisan affiliations.
    14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Connecticut General Assembly, "Sec. 51-44a. Judicial Selection Commission. Members. Duties. Nomination of judges by Governor.," accessed March 28, 2023
    15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Connecticut General Assembly, "Article Fifth. of the Judicial Department - Sec. 2.," accessed March 28, 2023
    16. ↑ State of Connecticut Judicial Branch, "Frequently Asked Media Questions," accessed March 28, 2023
    17. ↑ Brennan Center for Justice, "Judicial Selection: An Interactive Map," accessed March 23, 2023

    Political offices
    Preceded by
    -     		Connecticut Supreme Court
    2013-Present    		 Succeeded by
    -
    Preceded by
    -     		Connecticut State Senate District 27
    2003-2011    		 Succeeded by
    Carlo Leone (D)


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