State Supreme Court, 4th District

About Tom Buchanan

Tom Buchanan has served as a state Supreme Court justice in the Fourth Judicial District since he was elected in 2012. He graduated magna cum laude from Albany Law School in 1998 and then practiced at the law firm Hacker Murphy, handling commercial matters, contract disputes and personal injury cases. On the Supreme Court bench he hears civil lawsuits, commercial disputes, constitutional questions and personal injury actions. His campaign says he aims to run a courtroom that is efficient, civil and accessible, to make the legal process understandable to the people who come before the court, and to resolve cases in a timely and even-handed way.

ClickNNY profile, written from the campaign’s biography and public records. Sources: buchanan2026.com

About Christine M. Clark

Christine M. Clark has been a state Supreme Court justice since 2013 and has also sat on the Appellate Division, Third Department, since 2014. She previously served as a Schenectady County Family Court judge and a Schenectady City Court judge. She began her legal career in private practice at an Albany law firm, then joined the Schenectady County District Attorney's Office, where she prosecuted sex crimes and child abuse cases and became chief of the Special Victims Unit. She holds a bachelor's degree in history and political science from Columbia University and a law degree from Albany Law School, and she trained as a dancer at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center. She lives in Schenectady County with her husband and two daughters. Her campaign highlights her role as judicial co-chair of a statewide program that pairs volunteer attorneys age 55 and older with people who cannot afford a lawyer.

ClickNNY profile, written from the campaign’s biography and public records. Sources: judgeclark.com

About John T. Ellis

John T. Ellis has served as a state Supreme Court justice in the Fourth Judicial District since he was elected in 2012. He was born in Hawaii while his father was on active military duty, and his family has roots in Tupper Lake and other Franklin County communities. He attended Siena College on an ROTC scholarship, was commissioned in 1987 and graduated from Albany Law School in 1990. He spent four years on active duty as an Army lawyer with the 82nd Airborne Division and later served in the Army Reserve. After returning upstate in 1995, he practiced law, represented the Village of Tupper Lake and the Franklin County Industrial Development Authority, became a Franklin County assistant district attorney in 2002, and served seven years as a Family Court support magistrate. His campaign says he works to decide cases promptly and to follow statutes and case law closely.

ClickNNY profile, written from the campaign’s biography and public records. Sources: ellis4nysupremecourt.com

About Kate Hogan

Kate Hogan has been a New York Court of Claims judge and acting state Supreme Court justice since 2017, when the governor appointed her to the Court of Claims. She grew up in Hudson Falls and graduated from Hudson Falls High School, St. Lawrence University and Washington and Lee University School of Law. She began as a prosecutor in the Brooklyn district attorney's office, then served 16 years as Warren County district attorney, the first woman elected to that job. As district attorney she started the Warren-Washington Child Advocacy Center and helped launch the county's treatment court, and in 2009 and 2010 she was president of the state District Attorneys Association. From 2019 to 2021 she was supervising judge of the county courts in the Fourth Judicial District. She and her husband, Kevin, have three adult children. Her campaign highlights her work co-chairing the district's equal justice committee on court access in rural areas.

ClickNNY profile, written from the campaign’s biography and public records. Sources: judgekatehogan.com, judgekatehogan.com

About Keith S. Massey, Jr.

No campaign biography was available. Campaigns can send one to opsdesk@clicknny.com.

About Bradley M. Wanner

No campaign biography was available. Campaigns can send one to opsdesk@clicknny.com.