Justice Kelly placed first among the five candidates for the Michigan Supreme Court, handily winning reelection to another 8-year term. She received over 2 million votes, nearly half a million more than the second-place winner. With approximately 3 million people casting votes for two justices, roughly 70% voted for Kelly.

The unofficial final votes were:

• Total votes cast: 6,078,282 (of presumable 3,039,141 voters):
  • Marilyn Kelly — 2,123,841
  • Steven Markman — 1,665,185
  • Deborah Thomas — 1,252,752
  • Brian Zahra — 593,455
  • Leonard Schwartz — 443,049

Today the Michigan Chronicle joined eight other major Michigan daily newspapers in endorsing Justice Kelly for reelection.

Today, the Flint Journal endorsed Justice Kelly's reelection bid calling her a "superior performer" who came to the Court after service on the Court of Appeals and after "other exemplary public service," including the State Board of Education. In also endorsing Justice Markman, the Journal concluded, "The Michigan Supreme Court, which can have enoumous impact on state residents, needs justices the caliber of Markman and Kelly. They deserve re-election.

The Lansing State Journal endorsed Justice Kelly today in an editorial that underlined the "stark contrast" in judicial philosophy that exists between some of the candidates. It quoted Kelly as saying, "I'm not so strict a constructionist that I give absurd results. I apply the record as written, but use common sense." The Journal concluded, By "reelecting Kelly, voters can create a less doctrinaire, still conservative, court. That is just the balance Michigan is looking for - and needs - in these tumultuous times."

Saying that "the (Michigan Supreme) Court is better and less dogmatic for having her perspective at the conference table," the Grand Rapids Press today endorsed Justice Kelly for reelection. It noted, "In particular, Justice Kelly has shown sensitivity to open-government issues. In 1999, she was the only justice to dissent from an otherwise unanimous ruling that the Michigan Constitution shields university boards from having to comply with the state Open Meetings Act when conducting presidential searches."

The Polish American Citizens for Equity is an independent group of citizens from Hamtramck working to inform the public about the November election. Today it announced its endorsement of Justice Kelly for the Supreme Court.

The Women Lawyers Association of Michigan today endorsed Justice Kelly for reelection after interviewing her last Saturday in Lansing. She is the only Supreme Court candidate to receive the Association's endorsement.

Today the Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association gave Justice Kelly its highest rating, "Outstanding," after an in-person interview and written questionnaire. In its announcement, the DMBA noted, "We have learned from personal experience what it takes to be a fair judge, whether or not a decision on a given issue may be popular. While the judgment of individuals is inherently subjective, we have worked hard to focus on the qualifications and personal traits that are found in fair judges who understand and follow the law. We have worked hard to make these ratings as impartial as possible."

Justice Kelly is the only Supreme Court candidate that the DMBA rated "Outstanding."

Statewide polls conducted in late September show Justice Kelly far ahead of the other candidates among voters who have made a decision in the Supreme Court race. An EPIC-MRA poll showed that, with respect to those who indicated they planned to vote in the Supreme Court race, 37% were for Justice Kelly, 21% for Judge Deborah Thomas, 14 % for Justice Stephen Markman, 7% for attorney Leonard Schwartz, 3% for Judge Brian Zahra and 17% undecided. When all voters were polled, 12% favored Justice Kelly, 7% Thomas, 5% Markman, 2%, Schwartz, and 1% Zahra. As always at this point in the campaign, there was a large number of undecided voters.

A separate poll taken during approximately the same time period by the Marketing Resource Group found that, among all voters, 10% favored Justice Kelly, 5% favored Markman, 4% favored Thomas and 3% favored Schwartz and Zahra, with the rest undecided.

In his Inside Michigan Politics of September 27, political pundit and former Michigan Racing Commissioner William Ballenger made his predictions on the Supreme Court race. He wrote, "With three- quarters of the electorate undecided ... still it appears that Kelly has enough of an advantage over the rest of the field that she should be re-elected." He also said, "Markman doesn't have enough of a lead over the other three competitors that he can take his re-election for granted." Ballenger has been correct in his predictions in all four of Justice Kelly's previous court races!

Today the LAHR PAC announced that it has given Justice Kelly its highest rating, "Very Positive," after reviewing Justice Kelly's answers submitted in response to its survey of Supreme Court candidates.