St. Pé defeats Schloegel in hard-fought race for seat on Mississippi Court of Appeals
Pascagoula attorney Amy St. Pé defeated Chancery Judge Jennifer Schloegel of Gulfport in her bid to secure a seat on the Mississippi Court of Appeals.
The Associated Press declated St. Pé the winner once 94% of votes were counted. At that point, St. Pé had more than 17,000 votes, or about 61%, to roughly 11,000 votes, or 39% for Schloegel.
The women previously edged out a third candidate, Coast assistant district attorney Ian Baker, to qualify for the runoff in the nonpartisan race.
St. Pé won the District 5, Place 2 position on the court. Its 10 members serve 8-year, staggered terms. The sitting judge, former Coast District Attorney Joel Smith, did not seek re-election.
The Court of Appeals was created to ease a backlog of cases in the state Supreme Court. The Court of Appeals hears cases assigned by the Supreme Court where the law is settled but facts are in dispute.
MS Court of Appeals credentials
St Pé graduated from Mississippi College law school and has practiced law for 22 years. She founded her own law firm in Pascagoula, specializing in governmental law.
She has served for 15 years as a city attorney for Moss Point and is also a municipal judge for the city of Gautier.
St. Pé also served on Governors Advisory Council Committee for Restore Act funding, to which she was appointed by Gov. Tate Reeves, and is on the board of directors for Merchants & Marine Bank, the biography on her campaign website says. She also serves as attorney for both the Pascagoula and Moss Point redevelopment authorities.
St. Pé has stressed her wide range of legal experience, saying she’s shown the “temperament and skills” to be fair, and follow and uphold the law. She said that she’s campaigned hard for 11 months.
Schloegel has served since 2011 as a Chancery Court judge for Harrison, Hancock and Stone counties. During her campaign, Schloegel stressed her 13 years’ experience as chancery judge.
She pointed out that chancery judges hear appeals from county and justice courts, and said that the state Court of Appeals has upheld her rulings in 32 of 33 cases.
She has presided over trials involving fraud, governmental disputes, and public corruption, and says that she has followed the law even when it goes against government or other powerful interests. Schloegel practiced law before becoming a judge, specializing in personal injury, civil litigation, business law, trust and estate litigation, estate planning, and probate, her campaign website says.
This story was originally published November 26, 2024 at 8:40 PM.
