Attorney; chambers of Justice Craig D. Hannah, Appellate Division, Fourth Department

Michael L. Amodeo is a Buffalo attorney admitted in New York in 2005 and a University at Buffalo law graduate; his state attorney registration lists his employer as Hon. Craig D. Hannah and his office at 701 Seneca Street, Suite 350, which the Appellate Division, Fourth Department directory lists as Justice Hannah's chambers; Hannah sits on the Fourth Department and previously on the Eighth District Supreme Court⁷⁸¹⁰. He is cross-endorsed, appearing on the Democratic, Republican and Working Families lines (this guide codes him D because more of his lines are on that side); Four 14-year Supreme Court seats in the Eighth Judicial District (Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Niagara, Orleans and Wyoming counties) are on the ballot and voters may choose up to four of seven candidates; two candidates, Michael L. Amodeo and Robert N. Richardson, are cross-endorsed by both major parties, while Bucki and Joynt run on the Democratic side, Tripi and Hickey on the Republican side, and Vario on the Conservative line only¹²⁹.

• Attorney in the chambers of Justice Craig D. Hannah, per his New York attorney registration (registered office 701 Seneca Street, Suite 350, Buffalo, the address the Appellate Division, Fourth Department directory gives for Justice Hannah's chambers); Hannah was designated to the Fourth Department in March 2024 after serving on the Eighth District Supreme Court from 2022⁷⁸¹⁰
• Admitted to the New York bar in 2005; law degree, University at Buffalo⁷
• Cross-endorsed: nominated at both the Democratic and Republican judicial nominating conventions for the Eighth Judicial District in September 2026 and also holds the Working Families line; Supreme Court justices are chosen through party conventions and elected to 14-year terms¹⁶⁹.
• Bar poll: Bar Association of Erie County Judiciary Committee ratings for the 2026 New York State Supreme Court candidates, released September 16, 2026. The committee is a 29-lawyer nonpartisan panel with no more than 14 members from any one party that reviews questionnaires, interviews and input from lawyers and judges; it uses a four-level scale of Outstanding, Well Qualified, Qualified and Not Recommended. The rating is a non-binding evaluation of qualifications and is not an endorsement. Rating: Michael L. Amodeo, Qualified. Ratings in this race: Amodeo Qualified; Bucki Well Qualified; Hickey Well Qualified; Joynt Well Qualified; Richardson Well Qualified; Tripi Well Qualified; Vario not included in the release; the release also rates three other people (Christopher M. Pannozzo, Kenneth A. Szyszkowski and Peter P. Vasilion) who are not on the November ballot for this race³. No 2026 rating from the Eighth Judicial District Independent Judicial Election Qualification Commission was found; the commissions' ratings site lists no Eighth District ratings after 2018⁵.