After 27 years’ practicing law, Daniel Clifford is looking to take on a new role in the courtroom.
The openly gay attorney is one of several candidates vying for two open judgeships with the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas.
Clifford attained his law degree from the University of Baltimore in 1984 and has since focused his practice on family law.
Clifford, a Republican, said he was “bit by the political bug” in his youth and was very active in the Teenage and College Republicans; however, after sound advice from then-gubernatorial candidate Dick Thornburgh, he decided to attend law school before attempting to enter the political realm.
“I always wanted to go into politics but [Thornburgh] said that one of the things you need to keep in mind is that you may not always win your next election, so you need to have practical skills that will translate into a business,” he said, noting he also had to face a reality that he may not have been well-received as an openly gay political candidate. “I decided to just set politics aside for a long time because there was the realization that I could probably not successfully run for office — until more recently.”
Throughout his career, Clifford has spearheaded numerous child-custody and divorce cases, as well as several international parental-kidnapping situations.
He has also served as the chair of the Montgomery County Zoning Board for 14 years, and was last reappointed by a 6-1 bipartisan vote from the board.
Clifford, who has an adopted son with his partner, was also appointed by a unanimous bipartisan vote to the advisory board of the Montgomery County Office of Children and Youth, and previously served as the chair of the Montgomery County Bar Association’s Family Law Section.
He said his own courtroom experience, coupled with the bipartisan support he’s received in his professional life, encouraged him to return to his passion for politics with a judgeship run.
“I’ve practiced in 13 counties, and I’ve observed all the procedures and seen what works and what doesn’t work,” he said. “As chair of the Family Law Section, I made recommendations that were adopted to make the system more user-friendly. Right now, cases have been languishing for years — people think divorces can be done in a matter of months, but in reality it’s three or four years unless everyone cooperates 100 percent, which rarely happens — so I want to keep working to make the system more user-friendly. And that’s something that’s easier to work on from within the system as opposed to outside.”
Two years ago, Clifford made a run for Common Pleas Court but missed the county Republican Committee endorsement by a handful of votes, which he earned this year, along with the “Highly Recommended” rating by the Judiciary Committee of the Montgomery County Bar Association.
Clifford said he has not seen any overt homophobia throughout his campaign, although “it did come up in a quiet way a few times,” but the Republican backing solidified his confidence that his orientation would not be an issue with county voters.
He has, however, struggled to reach LGBT residents.
“One of my frustrations has been identifying the gay community in Montgomery County because, unlike in Philadelphia, there aren’t many groups here or publications. I know that there are of course many gay residents here in Montgomery County, but they’re harder to identify, so that’s something I’m really going to be working on doing.”
No matter the orientation of voters, Clifford said his message should be widely welcomed.
“I mentioned to the Judiciary Committee when they interviewed me that if they were looking for somebody to do the same thing that’s been done for the past 30-40 years, then I’m not the guy for the job. I want to go in there with a sense of really being able to improve the system for Montgomery County residents and bring some real change.”
For more information on Clifford, visit www.danielclifford.com.