The U.S. Senate must confirm Desai before she takes the position, but one expert on judicial appointments said that while she should expect challenging questions, Desai should not have difficulty getting that support.
By Ryan Randazzo |Arizona Republic
President Joe Biden on Wednesday nominated Arizona attorney Roopali Desai, who was on the front lines of several high-profile election challenges in Arizona, to fill a vacancy on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Desai has represented Democrats and the Democratic Party in a host of high-profile issues in Arizona and served as legal counsel and campaign attorney for U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, who advocated for her nomination.
“I have known Roopali for over 10 years. In that time, I have seen her deep respect and understanding of the law up close. She is a trusted legal expert highly regarded across the political spectrum in Arizona, known for her integrity and fairness,” Sinema said Wednesday in a statement to The Arizona Republic.
The U.S. Senate must confirm Desai before she takes the position, but one expert on judicial appointments said that while she should expect challenging questions, Desai should not have difficulty getting that support.
“I think she’ll do fine in the hearing and I think she’ll go through,” said Carl Tobias, a University of Richmond law professor. “She seems very well qualified. Her litigation experience shows why she could be a fine judge. She’s been in the middle of those kind of critical issues that federal courts resolve.”
Roopali Desai stands in her office at Coppersmith Brockelman PLC in Phoenix on Feb. 1, 2022.
Kirk Adams, the former chief of staff to Republican Gov. Doug Ducey and a conservative Republican strategist worked both against and with Desai, including on a 2020 ballot measure called the Second Chances, Rehabilitation and Public Safety Act, which failed to gather enough signatures for the ballot.
“The most you can hope for from an opponent working against you is that they are fair. I think that describes Roopali,” Adams told The Republic earlier this year. “Even when she’s an opponent, she’s fair.”
