HERE COMES THE JUDGE

Karen McDonald

Former Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Karen McDonald, who stepped down from the bench in March in order to run for Oakland County Prosecutor in 2020 – ironically, only a few months after her reelection to the bench, recently made it official by filing her statement of organization with the county clerk's office May 28 to run against current prosecutor Jessica Cooper (D). Cooper, who was first elected in 2008 after being both a circuit court judge and a Michigan Court of Appeals judge and reelected twice as prosecutor, has let it be known she has no intention of going anywhere. The Democratic primary may be a tussle, as Cooper has been credited with cleaning up the office. Some wondered if McDonald would run as a Republican, because she has been seen at a number of Republican functions in the last few years. “She probably did the math and figured there's going to be a blue wave in Oakland County in 2020,” one prosecutor said, adding that she had a “pretty mediocre career as a prosecutor.”