Northern Kentuckians for the Judiciary (NKFJ) announced today that it has endorsed four candidates in contested judicial races in Northern Kentucky in the Nov. 6 general election.
After interviews with candidates for these offices and a lengthy and rigorous evaluation of each candidate’s qualifications for election to the bench, the organization endorsed the following attorneys as the most qualified to serve in the positions for which they are running:
- Jennifer Dusing – Boone/Gallatin County Family Court
- Keith A. McMain – Boone/Gallatin County District Court
- Dawn M. Gentry – Kenton County Family Court
- Daniel J. Zalla – Campbell County Circuit Court
In 2015, a group of Northern Kentucky residents created NKFJ to evaluate sitting judges and endorse judicial candidates in an effort to advise the bar and the public regarding the quality of the judiciary in the region. NKFJ consists of a Steering Committee made up of lawyers — primarily those involved in litigation practices — and a Citizens Review Board consisting of a cross-section of community-minded citizens with diverse occupations and backgrounds.
“The purpose of our organization is to maintain and improve the quality of the judiciary in Northern Kentucky and to endorse those lawyers who the we believe are the most highly qualified judicial candidates in our region,” said Mark Arnzen, chairman of NKFJ. “We established high standards and a demanding criteria for our endorsement process and we believe these four candidates satisfied those standards and criteria.”
NKFJ is based on Citizens for Better Judges, an organization that started in Jefferson County in 1983. This organization was formed at the suggestion of former Kentucky Supreme Court Justice Charles M. Leibson after lawyers and residents in the Greater Louisville area became concerned that qualified judicial candidates were inhibited from running for office because of a lack of name recognition.
The NKFJ Steering Committee interviewed the judicial candidates over the past couple of months. After the interviews were completed, the Steering Committee considered information obtained during the interviews and shared their personal knowledge of the candidates.
The lay members of the Citizens Review Board monitored the interviews and the integrity of the endorsement process. The Citizens Review Board must approve the endorsement recommendations made by the Steering Committee and may reject Steering Committee endorsements that do not meet the organization’s criterion.
Members of the Steering Committee are Mark G. Arnzen, Jennifer Lawrence, Beverly R. Storm, Joshua Crabtree, Richard D. Lawrence, Todd V. McMurtry, Kevin L. Murphy, David B. Sloan, David Spaulding, Henry L. Stephens, Sarah Cameron, Andre Busald, Joseph Conley, Larry Hicks, James Morgan, Robert E. Sanders, and Robert C. Ziegler. (During this election cycle, Busald, Conley, Hicks, Morgan, and Sanders did not participate in interviews or the endorsement process to eliminate the appearance any conflict of interest.)
The members of the Citizens Review Committee are Bert Huff, Arnold Simpson, Elizabeth Grause, Jon Draud, Robert Griffin, Lynnette Benton, Jack Moreland, and Joan Robinson. (During this election cycle, Benton and Moreland did not participate in the interviews or endorsement process to eliminate the appearance any conflict of interest.)
Members of the Steering Committee and Review Board are not permitted to donate directly to judicial candidates or participate in judicial campaigns.
For further information about the endorsements or endorsement process, please visit our website at nkfj.org