With the announcement that Michael Cotter was nominated to be the U.S. Attorney for Montana today, a former candidate for the post has turned his attention to an open spot on the state Supreme Court.

Mike Wheat

Attorney Mike Wheat, of Cok Wheat and Kinzler PLLP, said he decided to pursue the Supreme Court spot a week and a half before Cotter’s nomination was announced, sending a letter to Democratic Sens. Max Baucus and John Tester.

“It’s pretty stimulating, actually,” Wheat said. “You can have a real impact on your state, from a legal point of view.”

“I had some friends of mine who said that might be  a better fit for me,” Wheat said. He has been a plaintiff’s attorney for more than 30 years, and specializes in litigating allegations of unsafe products, personal injury, bad faith insurance claims, nursing home neglect and medical negligence.

A spot on the Montana Supreme Court opened up at the beginning of September, when 66-year-old Justice John Warner resigned after six years on the bench. Warner was appointed in 2003, re-elected twice, and was serving out a term that would have lasted until 2012. According to the Missoulian, Warner resigned for health reasons. He is battling non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.