My guess is someone radical.

How about Ron Sims?

Rob McKenna.

an old white man?

Herself?

I don't see why Sanders is still allowed to be there. It does matter who is governor, too bad this one won't appoint anyone even slightly progressive.

I hate the old too. They're not real people like us.

Michael Spearman or Mary Yu.

Spearman would be an AA (and I'm not sure if we've had any of those). Yu would be both Asian and lesbian. Double whammy. (is that politically incorrect?)

My guess.

And good riddance. Alexander's been getting crotchety and hard right in his old age.

How is it that Sanders is still on the Court? Didn't Charlie Wiggins win, and was he ever seated?

@ 2 FTW

So, does Gerry get to stick around to decide all the cases he heard before he retired, like ousted justices do?

Or is retirement that much more final than losing an election?

I think #9 is right.

Yes, Steven Gonzalez is the likely appointment - I actually know Judge Gonzalez a little bit and I was interviewed by someone on the search committee (weird that she called from Sokane). He is very smart and extremely well spoken. I know Gerry Alexander quite well (he will always be "The Chief" to me) and will miss him terribly.

Either Judge Gonzalez or Judge Yu (Suggested headline: "Yu Be the Judge") would be an excellent choice! They're both trial court judges with very good reputations for fairness and smarts, and both are well thought of, I think, in the public service law community.

Justice Alexander will be appointed a pro tem justice so he can finish his cases. He could elect to withdraw, like Phil Talmadge did, but it's unlikely. Michael Spearman ran for the Supreme Court and lost, so he'd be an unlikely appointment. When Justice Durham withdrew from all the cases when she resigned for health reasons, a bunch of cases had to be reargued (because the court was deadlocked), which was an expensive pain for everyone.

My money's on Gonzales, though Narda Pierce's name keeps getting whispered.