State Supreme Court justice candidate Allison McGahay stands in front of the old Essex County Courthouse after announcing her candidacy for justice on Monday. Pictured with her, from left, are town of Jay Supervisor Matt Stanley, Essex County Sheriff David Reynolds, Board of Supervisors Chairman Shaun Gillilland, Elizabethtown town Supervisor Noel Merrihew, North Elba town Supervisor Derek Doty, Lewis town Supervisor James Monty, Westport town Supervisor Michael “Ike” Tyler, Moriah town Supervisor Tom Scozzafava, Crown Point town Supervisor Charles Harrington, Schroon town Supervisor Meg Wood, Chesterfield town Supervisor Clayton Barber, Wilmington town Supervisor Roy Holzer and Newcomb town Supervisor Robin DeLoria. (Enterprise photo — Lauren Yates)

ELIZABETHTOWN — Lake Placid Attorney and Essex County Board of Elections Republican Commissioner Allison McGahay has announced her candidacy for state Supreme Court justice.

McGahay, a Republican, announced her intention to run for the Supreme Court’s fourth judicial district seat following the Essex County Board of Supervisors’ Ways and Means meeting on Monday. A win for McGahay this November would mean that Essex County would have its first representative on the Supreme Court since 2008, when incumbent justice James Dawson lost his re-election bid.

“I am prepared to bring this seat back where it rightfully belongs, which is Essex County,” McGahay told the board of supervisors on Monday.

McGahay said there are two vacancies on the district’s ballot for Supreme Court justice this year — one seat in Saratoga County and one seat in Essex County. She would be running against incumbent Justice Bob Muller.

The fourth judicial district covers 11 counties, 500,000 registered voters and 840,000 residents from Saratoga County to the Canadian border and from Washington to Fulton County, according to McGahay. Essex County and Hamilton County are the only two counties in the district that are fully seated in the Adirondack Park. Board of supervisors Chair Shaun Gilliland said Monday that having a representative from one of those two counties is “extremely important” when it comes to hearing cases related to environmental issues and the Adirondack Park.

McGahay said that she hopes the Office of Court Administration would restore court chambers to the county if she secures the district seat; Muller moved the district’s chambers to Warren County after he won his election in 2008. McGahay said that the person who wins the justice seat can choose which county in the district they want state court chambers to reside in, and she said she’d choose Essex County.

“This is my home,” she said.

McGahay received her Juris Doctor from the Albany School of Union University and her Bachelor of Arts in public justice from SUNY Oswego. She remembers being inspired to serve as a Supreme Court Justice during law school while she was working as a judicial intern with Supreme Court Justice Bud Malone in Albany. After that, she worked a three-year stint as an assistant district attorney for the Essex County District Attorney’s Office. McGahay has served as the town of Wilmington’s attorney since 2017, and she’s been a county election commissioner and a private attorney since 2013.

McGahay grew up in Winthrop, on her grandparents’ apple orchard. Up until last fall, McGahay said, “apple picker” was also on her resume.

McGahay considers her years as an attorney as a career of public service. She said she’s served Essex County throughout the years by prosecuting everything from tickets to felonies, serving as assigned counsel in family court proceedings and representing families who might not have been able to afford her services otherwise, and acting as an elections commissioner to ensure that the county has a “trustworthy voting system.” Now, McGahay said, she’s ready to serve the other 10 counties in the judicial district.

Right now, McGahay is making her way through the 11 counties in the district to meet with Republican committees and seek their endorsement of her candidacy. She’s met with seven of the counties’ committees so far, and she’s received unanimous support from all of them.

While McGahay is a Republican, supreme court justice campaigns don’t run strictly along party lines. A group of delegates select candidates in August to appear on the election ballot in November, and McGahay’s husband, Bill, said candidates can’t talk about bipartisan issues or discuss other candidates’ downfalls while campaigning — they can only present their qualifications and make their case for why they’re a good candidate.

“I think it keeps it impartial and fair going forward,” he said.

Allison said she’s excited to be running, and she said her two children are excited to be a part of the process and watch their mom run for office. Plus, she said, she has her husband as a campaign partner.

“This will be an army of two,” Bill said.