Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Elizabeth Clement is resigning from her post to lead a national nonprofit focused on state courts — a move that will pave the way for a bigger liberal majority on the state’s highest court.

Clement announced on Wednesday that she will leave the bench by April 30, giving Gov. Gretchen Whitmer the chance to name her replacement and further solidify Democratic influence on the technically nonpartisan Michigan Supreme Court.

Clement, 47, is a Republican-nominated justice but has crossed ideological lines in several rulings. Her departure means Democratic nominees or appointees will have a 6-1 majority on the Michigan Supreme Court after Whitmer appoints a replacement.

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Tipping the court by such a large margin spells bad news for conservative views. It’s likely to add years to Republican efforts to regain a majority on the state’s highest court, The Detroit News reports.

However, since Clement’s eight-year term was set to expire at the end of 2026, Whitmer’s nominee to fill her seat will have to stand for election next year.

“Leading our state’s highest court has been an opportunity to continue a proud record of independence, fairness, and commitment to the rule of law,” Clement said in a statement.

A graduate of Michigan State University College of Law, Clement has dissented with conservative colleagues on a number of key decisions and sided with the liberal majority.

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She approved contested proposals that created an independent redistricting commission and enshrined abortion protections in the state constitution, Bridge Michigan reports.

At other times, she fell in line with conservatives, particularly on a pivotal COVID-era ruling that stopped Whitmer from indefinitely exercising emergency powers during the pandemic. The court determined Whitmer needed approval from the Republican-controlled state legislature, which limited the scope of the governor’s pandemic restrictions.

“Throughout her distinguished tenure on the Michigan Supreme Court, Chief Justice Clement was an independent minded jurist who upheld the rule of law, protected our constitutional values, and stood strong for the principles of justice,” Whitmer said in a statement.

Whitmer said her office will “ensure a smooth transition” and “appoint her replacement after a thorough review,” according to a news release.

Whitmer acknowledged that Clement “cemented equal protections for all Michiganders in state law regardless of who they love when she authored Rouch World v Department of Civil Rights, which held that the state’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act prohibited discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.”

As Clement’s term was coming to an end, Republicans were unlikely to renominate her due to past rulings and the GOP’s rightward shift, Bridge Michigan reports.

Former Gov. Rick Snyder appointed Clement to the court in 2017 after her predecessor, Joan Larsen, left to serve as a federal appellate judge. The next year, despite being labeled a black sheep justice, Clement gained the Republican nomination at the GOP state convention to serve another term and was elected amid Democratic gains.

Supreme Court nominees appear on the ballot without a partisan affiliation but do have their incumbency indicated.

Clement’s colleagues elected her to serve as Chief Justice three times since late 2022, Bridge Michigan reports. Her predecessor, Bridget Mary McCormack, also stepped down in 2022, prompting Clement’s promotion to lead the seven-judge panel.

Whitmer’s last appointment, Kyra Harris Bolden, joined the Supreme Court in January 2023 to replace McCormack. But Bolden quickly found herself in hot water for hiring a clerk who spent 14 years in prison for shooting at police officers. Bolden also courted controversy after ruling favorably on behalf of Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson after Benson’s PAC donated $80,000 to Bolden’s reelection campaign.

Just days after being sworn in as the state’s newest Supreme Court justice, Bolden hired Pete Martel, who pleaded guilty to armed robbery and assault with intent to do great bodily harm in 1994 after robbing a Genesee County convenience store and shooting at a police officer, The Detroit News reports. After The Detroit News broke the story, Martel promptly resigned.

Whitmer also faced criticism for appointing Bolden because the state lawmaker had not previously served as a judge, although Supreme Court justices aren’t required to have prior service in the judicial branch. Bolden was a Democratic nominee for two seats on the Michigan Supreme Court in the Nov. 8, 2022 election, and she was narrowly defeated by Republican-nominated Brian Zahra for the second seat.

Clement is resigning to take over as the next president of the National Center for State Courts, according to a NCSC news release. The organization, headquartered in Williamsburg, Virginia, works as a coordinating forum for court administrative practices.

The salary for Michigan Supreme Court justices is roughly $181,000 — less than judges on lower courts — while the nonprofit center’s last president earned more than $350,000 in 2023, according to IRS disclosures.

As chief justice, Clement leads a team of more than 300 professionals, establishes the judiciary’s annual budget, and promotes legislation focused on access to justice. Chief Justice Clement also chairs the Michigan Judicial Council, serves on the National Center for State Courts’s Conference of Chief Justices, and is an adjunct law professor at the Michigan State University College of Law.