Judge officially exits campaign

CONWAY - Circuit Judge Michael Maggio of Conway, who apologized Wednesday for making online comments about women and others, formally withdrew Thursday from the campaign for a seat on the Arkansas Court of Appeals.

Maggio, 52, remains a judge in the 20th Judicial District, which includes Faulkner, Van Buren and Searcy counties. His term expires at the end of the year.

Maggio hand-delivered a brief, notarized letter to Secretary of State Mark Martin’s office, office spokesman Alex Reed said. The letter asked Martin not to certify Maggio’s name for the ballot and not to put it on the ballot in any of the counties in the appeals court’s District 2, Division 1 - the seat Maggio had sought.

Maggio, who had the support of several conservative lawyers, thanked Martin and his staff for their “gracious assistance.”

Judicial elections, which are nonpartisan, are May 20. The only candidate now seeking the position is District Judge Bart Virden of Morrilton. Virden filed late last week.

Maggio did not reply to phone or email messages seeking comment Thursday.

Maggio, who lives in Conway, acknowledged in an emailed statement late Wednesday that he made numerous anonymous postings, which appeared under the pseudonym “geauxjudge” on a message board for Louisiana State University sports fans. Shortly after Blue Hog Report, a Little Rock-based blog, first disclosed the postings Monday, the Arkansas Discipline and Disability Commission’s executive director said the agency was investigating the matter.

Among Maggio’s comments that raised concern were some relating to a 2012 adoption by actress Charlize Theron. Adoptions are confidential under Arkansas law.

Maggio said online that a fellow judge whom he did not identify handled the adoption case. Maggio also said the baby was black and that he offered to be “the baby daddy.”

Other online comments by Maggio, who is divorced, included postings that criticized women who divorce their husbands, homosexuals and transsexuals. He wrote graphically about “rodeo sex” and joked about incest and bestiality in Arkansas.

In the Wednesday statement he said, “I take full responsibility for the comments that have been attributed to me. I apologize deeply for my lapse in personal judgment and for that, I have no excuse. The comments posted were not acceptable. These comments are not a reflection of who I am.”

But Maggio criticized what he called “the politics of personal destruction.”

Virden said late Wednesday that he did not know about the online comments Maggio had made before Blue Hog reported them.

Arkansas, Pages 13 on 03/07/2014

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