3rd Circuit Judge of Circuit Court - Incumbent - 6 Year Terms
Wayne County, Michigan
My vote power
Above average
Election date
November 3, 2026 · General election
How do we calculate my vote power?
What goes into the rating: Representation: how much weight one vote carries here compared with a statewide vote — the smaller the district, the more each vote counts. Decisiveness: how likely this race is to be close, based on past results or current analyst ratings, plus the number of candidates.
Representation: Above average · 58 out of 100
This district is a good deal smaller than its state, so each vote here carries more weight than a vote in a statewide race. About 1,772,259 people live here.
Show the representation math
score = 50 + 50 × ln(state population ÷ this district's) ÷ ln(50,000) = 50 + 50 × ln(10,077,761 ÷ 1,772,259) ÷ ln(50,000) = 58.03, measured against a statewide vote in MI (grades: 66+ high, 55+ above average, 33+ average, otherwise low; a statewide race is the 50 baseline)
Decisiveness: Unknown
No analyst ratings or past results for this contest yet.
Above average representation → My vote power: Above average.
Some data is missing, so this rating is based on partial information.
About this office
- Deciding trials in the county
- Ruling on evidence and setting sentences in criminal cases
- Deciding family, probate, and civil disputes
Affects: Public Safety and Crime Control, Housing Affordability, Civil Rights,
Candidates
Nonpartisan · Incumbent · declared
Bradley L. Cobb has served as a Wayne County circuit judge in the criminal division since 2022, after 25 years as a county assistant prosecutor. His prosecution work included violent crimes, community prosecution, and diversion assignments.
Records: Civil Rights 1 for, Impartiality 1 for, Legal Competence 1 for
Nonpartisan · Incumbent · declared
Carla G. Testani has been a Wayne County family court judge since 2018, after two decades of private family-law practice covering divorce, custody, mediation, and arbitration. She has served on the Michigan Judges Association executive committee and her court's strategic planning committee.
Records: Legal Competence 2 for, Public Safety and Crime Control 1 for
Nonpartisan · Incumbent · declared
Chandra W. Baker-Robinson is a Wayne County Third Circuit Court judge assigned to the Criminal Division. Elected in 2020, she previously spent nearly 12 years as a Wayne County prosecutor and led the office's arson unit.
Nonpartisan · Incumbent · declared
Charlene M. Elder has served as a Wayne County civil division judge since her appointment in December 2005. She was earlier a magistrate in Dearborn's 19th District Court and practiced consumer-protection, commercial, and general litigation law.
Records: Public Safety and Crime Control 1 for
Nonpartisan · Incumbent · declared
Chris Dingell is a Wayne County circuit judge in the family domestic division. He represented Michigan's 7th Senate district from 1987 through 2002 and holds degrees from the University of Michigan and Detroit College of Law.
Records: Legal Competence 1 for, 1 against, Civil Rights 1 against
Nonpartisan · Incumbent · declared
Christopher M. Blount is a Wayne County Third Circuit Court judge assigned to the Criminal Division. He joined the circuit court in 2022 after serving on Detroit's 36th District Court since 2017; before taking the bench, he practiced criminal defense, probate, and civil litigation.
Nonpartisan · Incumbent · declared
Cylenthia LaToye Miller is a criminal division judge in Wayne County who served on Detroit's 36th District Court from 2006 to 2019. She founded Street Outreach Court Detroit, which helps homeless residents clear minor cases, and once led Detroit's employment and training department.
Records: Civil Rights 4 for, Legal Competence 3 for, Public Safety and Crime Control 1 for
Nonpartisan · Incumbent · declared
David J. Allen is a Wayne County Third Circuit Court judge serving in the Civil Division and on the Business Court. Appointed to the circuit bench in 2003, he has served in both criminal and civil divisions and received the Michigan Judges Association's Hilda Gage Award in 2023.
Records: Legal Competence 1 for
Nonpartisan · Incumbent · declared
Don Knapp is presiding judge of the criminal division in Wayne County, appointed to the bench in 2018. He previously spent nine years as Livonia's city attorney, served on the Livonia City Council, and practiced municipal, commercial, and probate law.
Records: Impartiality 2 for, Legal Competence 2 for, Civil Rights 1 for
Nonpartisan · Incumbent · declared
Edward J. Joseph has been a Wayne County civil division judge since his appointment in 2014. He spent more than two decades in private practice handling civil, probate, juvenile, and criminal litigation, and served as a special assistant attorney general.
Records: Legal Competence 1 for, Public Safety and Crime Control 1 for
Nonpartisan · Incumbent · declared
Helal A. Farhat is chief judge pro tem of Wayne County's circuit court and presiding judge of its family division, appointed in March 2019. He was earlier a magistrate in Dearborn's 19th District Court and spent 17 years in private practice.
Nonpartisan · Incumbent · declared
Margaret M. Van Houten has been a Wayne County criminal division judge since her appointment in 2012. She practiced law for more than a decade, clerked for Brian Zahra on two Michigan courts, and served four terms on the Dearborn Heights City Council.
Records: Legal Competence 4 for, 1 against, Civil Rights 3 for, Impartiality 1 for
Nonpartisan · Incumbent · declared
Mary Beth Kelly is a Wayne County family court judge who served on that bench from 1999 to 2010, including as its first woman chief judge. She was a Michigan Supreme Court justice from 2011 to 2015 and earlier a commercial litigation partner at Dickinson Wright.
Records: Legal Competence 4 for, Civil Rights 1 for
Nonpartisan · Incumbent · declared
Nicole L. Castka is a Wayne County Third Circuit Court judge assigned to the Criminal Division. Appointed in 2025, she previously spent more than two decades as a Detroit criminal-defense lawyer and sole practitioner.
Records: Legal Competence 2 for
Nonpartisan · Incumbent · declared
Nicole N. Goodson has served as a Wayne County circuit judge since November 2022. She previously led the Legal Aid and Defender Association as president and chief executive, representing domestic violence survivors and residents facing homelessness.
Records: Civil Rights 2 for, Legal Competence 2 for
Nonpartisan · Incumbent · declared
Shannon Nicol Walker has been a Wayne County criminal division judge since 2015. She began as a public defender with the Legal Aid and Defender Association and later served as a Wayne County assistant prosecutor, including in the child and family abuse unit.
Records: Impartiality 7 for, Legal Competence 7 for, Civil Rights 5 for,
Sources: waynecountymi.gov2