DOVER, Del. (AP) - Delaware's Democratic governor is nominating two Democrats to seats on the state Supreme Court, maintaining the high court's partisan balance as he fights for the state constitution's provision requiring partisan balance among state court judges.
Gov. John Carney said Thursday he would nominate Justice Collins Seitz Jr. to become the Delaware Supreme Court's chief justice, replacing retiring Leo Strine Jr. Seitz has been an associate justice since 2015.
Carney also nominated Tamika Montgomery-Reeves from the state's Court of Chancery to take Seitz's seat. She'd be the high court's first African-American justice.
The state Senate is expected to consider Carney's nominations Nov. 7.
Carney is appealing a federal appeals court ruling that the Delaware constitution's requirement that governors split judicial nominations between the two major political parties violates the U.S. Constitution.
