Trump reveals Supreme Court candidates

US presidential hopeful Donald Trump has released a list of potential Supreme Court nominations should he be elected in November.

On Wednesday, May 18, Trump, the only remaining Republican candidate, put forward a list of potential replacements to fill the void left by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in February.

Of the eight men and three women on Trump’s list are six judges who sit on federal appeals courts and five who work in state courts.

They are: Steven Colloton and Raymond Gruender, judges on the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit; Thomas Hardiman, a judge at the Third Circuit; Raymond Kethledge, who works at the Sixth Circuit; William Pryor, from the Eleventh Circuit; and Diane Sykes of the Seventh Circuit.

Justices at state-based Supreme Courts Allison Eid (Colorado), Joan Larsen ( Michigan), Thomas Lee (Utah), David Stras (Minnesota) and Don Willett (Texas) have also been nominated.

The six appeals court judges were nominated to their current positions by former Republican George W Bush.

According to their online profiles, Lee (Utah) is the only nominee to have specialised in IP law and he ruled in cases centred on trademark infringement involving carmakers Porsche, Volkswagen and Ford.

In a statement, Trump said the list is “representative of the kind of constitutional principles I value”.

“As president, I plan to use this list as a guide to nominate our next United States Supreme Court justices,” he added.

Five of the judges previously worked as clerks for current Supreme Court justices.

Eid, Lee and Stras worked for Clarence Thomas, while Kethledge clerked for Anthony Kennedy and Larsen assisted Scalia.

In March, President Barack Obama, whose term ends in November, nominated Merrick Garland to succeed Scalia.

The Republican-held Senate has promised to block any appointment of a new justice until the presidential election has concluded.