Gwinnett Daily Post

 

With the chief judges of two of Gwinnett's courts retiring in a year, candidates started stepping forward Friday to replace them.

Tracey Mason Blasi, the niece of former commission Chairman Wayne Mason, announced she will campaign to replace Superior Court Judge Dawson Jackson.

Blasi, a South Gwinnett High School grad who has practiced law in Georgia for nearly 20 years, specializes in mediation and land use. She has been a Municipal Court Judge in Duluth.

The Lawrenceville woman has been involved in many local organizations, including the Council for Quality Growth, the Gwinnett County Chamber of Commerce and the Gwinnett Coalition for Health and Human Resources. She is the co-founder of United Way's Women's Legacy in Gwinnett, is a Leadership Gwinnett graduate, is a past-president of the Rotary Club of Gwinnett, and is the current president of the Community Foundation for Northeast Georgia.

Suwanee woman Emily Brantley will be a candidate for State Court judge of Gwinnett County, to replace Judge Robert Mock is retiring at the end of 2012.

"The people of Gwinnett County recognize the hard work that Judge Mock has done," Brantley said. "He has helped raise the standard by which judges operate, and we all appreciate his service."

Brantley, a mother of three daughters, specializes in complex civil litigation.

"As our new judge, I will be able to rely on my experience," Brantley said. "A good judge, a fair judge, enters a courtroom without predetermined conclusions, but relies on the law and the Constitution. I will do exactly that."

Political Notebook appears in the Thursday and Sunday editions of the Gwinnett Daily Post.