N.H. Attorney General Gordon MacDonald will be the next chief justice of the state Supreme Court.
New Hampshire Attorney General Gordon J. MacDonald has been confirmed as chief justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court, ending a protracted political dispute over who should lead the state’s high court.
The Executive Council vote Friday broke along party lines, with the council’s four Republicans uniting to elevate MacDonald, who’s never been a judge but who is widely respected in state legal circles, to the state’s highest judicial post.
“I haven’t seen an attorney general work any harder than Gordon MacDonald,” said Councilor David Wheeler, a Republican from Milford. “He has never lied to me that’s a big deal for me never given me false information. And that is a characteristic I’d like to see in a Supreme Court justice.”
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Attorney General Gordon MacDonald in attendance at the Executive Council meeting Wednesday. Photo/Paula Tracy
CONCORD, NH – Governor Chris Sununu on Wednesday announced that he will nominate Attorney General Gordon MacDonald to serve as the next Chief Justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court. The nomination will be made January 7, at the first Executive Council Meeting of 2021. If confirmed, AG MacDonald will succeed Chief Justice Bob Lynn, who retired on August 23rd, 2019 and take over leadership of the Judicial Branch from Senior Associate Justice Gary Hicks, who has lead the branch admirably for the last year and a half.