At its meeting on Tuesday, April 25, the People’s Alliance Political Action Committee voted to ask Governor Cooper to appoint either Kendra Montgomery-Blinn or Amanda Maris to the district court seat made vacant when Judge Marcia Morey was appointed to the N. C. House District 30 seat.  Montgomery-Blinn and Maris were also among the five names the Durham County Bar recently sent to the governor.  Originally, nine candidates submitted their names for consideration.

Both Maris and Montgomery-Blinn have impressive records in public service and as attorneys.  Each has shown an abiding interest in families and children’s welfare.  Each has headed up PA’s education team.  Maris has made her career in the public defender’s office.  Montgomery-Blinn has served as an assistant district attorney and as the first executive director of North Carolina’s Innocence Inquiry Commission.  PA members are impressed by both women’s deep knowledge of the law and commitment to finding real justice for people in the courts.  At the PAC meeting, practicing attorneys and court officers heaped praises on Montgomery-Blinn and Maris.

PA PAC wants judges who serve the Durham community to be genuine legal scholars, patient, hard-working, compassionate and fair.  We are confident that Governor Cooper, an attorney himself who has served the people long and well as a legislator and as Attorney General, will undoubtedly look for these same qualities in the candidate he appointments to this district court seat.  In either Amanda Maris or Kendra Montgomery-Blinn he cannot go wrong.

Currently, the Republican-controlled legislature is considering a bill that would take away the governor’s authority  to fill vacant district court judgeships.  PA PAC views this as a jab at Roy Cooper, North Carolina’s new Democrat governor.  PA PAC supported Cooper in his recent successful bid for election.  PAC trusts Governor Cooper to choose the best person to fill the current vacancy on Durham’s District Court bench.

PA PAC ‘s endorsement meeting on April 25 was well attended.  At endorsement meetings, the members debate the candidates’ merits and then make their decision after everyone has had an opportunity to speak.  PAC coordinators research candidates’ qualifications and positions on issues and make the information they have collected available to PA members and the public.  The PAC has been involved in Durham’s political life for more than forty years.  The integrity of the PAC endorsement process has earned the respect of Durham voters and in recent elections, PA PAC-endorsed candidates have enjoyed considerable success at the polls.

For this endorsement, PA PAC asked candidates to submit resumes, written statements explaining their interest in serving Durham on the bench, and responses to questionnaires. 

Amanda Maris - resume and letter  |  questionnaire
Kendra Montgomery-Blinn - resume and letter  |  questionnaire