Attorney Matthew J. Skinner of Ilion filed paperwork with the New York State Board of Elections in Albany to officially launch his campaign as a Democrat running for State Supreme Court in the Fifth Judicial District, consisting of Onondaga, Oneida, Herkimer, Lewis, Jefferson, and Oswego Counties.
After a long career in public service focused broadly on advancing LGBTQ civil rights and enhancing access to justice, including nearly a decade inside the Office of Court Administration in the New York State Unified Court System, Skinner today is the principal law clerk to the Hon. John W. Dillon in Onondaga County Supreme Court. He also previously clerked for a federal judge, litigated at an international law firm, and oversaw a network of free legal clinics.
“Going to court can be scary for the average person, who may be coming before a judge for the first time ever,” Skinner said. “My job as a judge will be to make sure that everyone, regardless of status or background, understands what is going on and feels like they are being treated with dignity and respect at what may be some of the most difficult moments of their lives. Confidence in the courts and the judicial process is central to our democracy and our society.”
For his groundbreaking work in the profession and the court system over the past decade, Skinner has been honored repeatedly, by publications like PoliticsNY to statewide, national, and even international bar and judicial associations. The NAACP Mid-Manhattan Branch presented him with its Pride in Government Award in 2023 and last year, he was recognized by the New York State Bar Association with its LGBTQ+ Vanguard Award.
Skinner is also extremely active with leadership roles on several local boards, including serving as president of both The Legal Aid Society of Mid-New York and Legal Services of Central New York and second vice president of the Oneida County Bar Association, as well as serving as the Oneida County delegate to the New York State Bar Association’s House of Delegates. He additionally sits on the boards of the American Constitution Society New York Lawyer Chapter and the Albany Law School National Alumni Association.
The son of two public school teachers and an alumnus of Ilion Junior-Senior High School (now known as Central Valley Academy), he is a magna cum laude graduate of both the University of Notre Dame and Albany Law School.
If elected, Skinner would make history as the first openly gay man ever elected to State Supreme Court in any of the upstate judicial districts.
