Can Probate Court Candidate Tracy Van den Bergh Unseat Gov. Snyder’s Appointee?
LAWYER TRACY VAN den Bergh raised almost triple the money incumbent Judge Julia B. Owdziej raised for the August primary election. Van den Bergh raised $51,575 in cash contributions and $4,280 in-kind. She spent $38,532 and put in over $12,000 of her own money, according to campaign finance disclosure forms filed with the Michigan Secretary of State in late-July. Judge Owdziej received 1,260 more votes, total, but Van den Bergh captured more absentees votes—1,705 to Judge Owdziej’s 1,491. In the five-way primary race, Judge Owdziej captured 31 percent of the vote and Van den Bergh captured 28 percent of the vote. This leaves votes cast in the August 5 primary election up for grabs.
If Tracy Van den Bergh unseats the incumbent, it will be the first time in memory that a challenger has done so. This election is unusual in the sense that the “incumbent” was appointed by Gov. Snyder to the Probate Court seat at the beginning of June 2014. Judge Owdziej will have been on the bench five months when the November general election rolls around.
When speaking about her chances to unseat the incumbent, Tracy Van den Bergh was unequivocal: “I can beat an incumbent. Absolutely. It’s not going to be easy, but I can do it.”
In her primary election campaign, Van den Bergh told The Ann Arbor Independent she knocked on over 12,000 doors. In talking about how she expects her campaign to take shape over the course of the next months, she said:
“It’s not going to be an easy task. I’m planning to do more work in the out county. U-M students will be back, so I’m planning to reach out to them. I’ll probably do more events.”
On the subject of whether she thinks supporters of the three candidates who did not survive the primary election will be inclined to support her now, Van den Bergh said that she is already hearing from people who plan to support her candidacy.
“I’ve had people tell me they had long-term connections to one or another of the other candidates, but now they’re going to be supporting me.”
As for whether she thinks that support could turn into more campaign donations, Van den Bergh chucked and said, “Anyone who wants to donate, I welcome their funds and their support.”
Tracy Van den Bergh is convinced that “education is key” to her race for the seat occupied by Judge Owdziej.
“People think she’s (Judge Owdziej) has been on the bench for 20 years.”
In 1999 Owdziej, a former Washtenaw County prosecutor, was appointed by Judge Nancy C. Wheeler to serve as a Washtenaw County Juvenile Court Referee. As Referee, she presided over juvenile delinquency cases from preliminary hearing through trial and disposition (sentencing).
In 2011 Owdziej was appointed to the position of Deputy Register/Referee in the Washtenaw County Probate Court by Judge Donald Shelton. There, she has presided over minor guardianship and conservatorship hearings, conducted instructional classes for all newly appointed guardians and conservator.
When Judge Nancy Francis stepped down, several of the candidates who competed in the Aug. primary election for the Probate Court seat applied to Gov. Snyder to be appointed to the seat. Tracy Van den Bergh applied, as did Julia Owdziej. The Governor selected Owdziej.
Van den Bergh talked about whether it would be a part of her strategy to focus on the job Judge Owdziej has done on the bench thus far.
“I don’t know whether I’m going to address the job that she has done thus far. I do know there have been appeals filed already. I do think there needs to be a dialogue about whether she’s doing her job well.”
That there have been appeals filed in the two months Judge Owdziej has been on the bench isn’t the best gauge of the quality of her work—lawyers file appeals routinely.
However, there have been rumblings from family law lawyers that Judge Owdziej has allegedly made statutory and procedural errors which have resulted in appeals. This is an entirely different matter. The bottom line is that judges—even new ones—are supposed to know and follow the rules.
Tracy van den Bergh said, “I do think there is room to look at her job performance. She is new and she is running a campaign, but she is carrying a very large case load that requires her to do her homework.”
At the October 15 candidates’ forum, an audience member asked Julia Owdziej whether she is a member of any organization that takes a position on abortion rights. She answered “No.”
This was surprising, since Owdziej is a member of St. Thomas Catholic church, which she attends regularly, and has a child enrolled at Gabriel Richard school. Both organizations are very active in pro-life politics; they even charter buses to take parishioners and students to anti-choice rallies.
Why is this relevant? The Probate Court is the venue where a minor girl must go to petition a judge to grant permission to terminate an unwanted pregnancy. Regardless of where you personally stand on the issue of abortion rights, it’s very important to know where a potential judge stands, since that will certainly affect her decision-making in these types of cases which will come before her. I find it disturbing that Owdziej chose to deny her affiliations.