The General Assembly voted Tuesday to confirm Raheem Mullins as chief justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court over the objections of small Republican voting blocs in the House and Senate.
Mullins, the interim chief justice since last fall, was endorsed by votes of 131-13 in the House and 31-3 in the Senate. Associate Justice Gregory T. D’Auria was confirmed for a second eight-year term by lopsided margins.
The debates over both confirmations were perfunctory.
Sen. Heather Somers of Groton and Sen. Jeff Gordon of Woodstock joined Sen. Rob Sampson of Wolcott, who had cast the sole negative vote against Mullins on the Judiciary Committee.
Three first-term House Republicans joined 10 conservatives in opposition to Mullins: Reps. Joe Canino of Torrington, Arnold Jensen of Oxford and Chris Stewart of Putnam. None spoke in debate.
Some Republicans showed they had long memories by voting against the confirmation of Richard Palmer, a retired Supreme Court justice, as a trial referee.
In 2017, Palmer barely won confirmation in the Senate to a final eight-year term as a justice. He he faced opposition then over his authorship of opinions that legalized same-sex marriage and ended the last vestige of capital punishment.
Palmer was endorsed as a referee Tuesday by votes of 105-38 in the House and 26-7 in the Senate.Â
House Minority Leader Vincent J. Candelora, R-North Branford, and Senate Minority Leader Stephen Harding, R-Brookfield, were among those opposing Palmer.
