Wendy Long

Wendy Long – Life, Career, and Notable Quotes

Learn about Wendy Long (born June 21, 1960) — the American attorney, legal advocate, and Republican political figure known for her work in judicial confirmations, Senate campaigns, and legal thought leadership.

Introduction

Wendy Long is an American lawyer, advocate, and political candidate whose career has spanned Supreme Court clerkships, judicial advocacy, and two U.S. Senate campaigns. While she has not held elective office, her influence is felt in legal policy debates, conservative legal networks, and political campaigns. Her background—the intersection of law, ideology, and public service—offers insight into how lawyers engage with the judiciary, politics, and public discourse.

Early Life & Education

Wendy Elizabeth Stone (later Long) was born on June 21, 1960 in Worcester, Massachusetts, but her family moved back to Keene, New Hampshire, where she was raised. Her father, Donald W. Stone, owned a printing business and a home-building construction company; her mother, Norma Swahnberg Stone, was a teacher and later civic leader. Wendy is the oldest of four children, and all siblings ended up graduating from Dartmouth College.

She attended public schools in Keene, New Hampshire, before going to Dartmouth College, where she was deeply involved in campus journalism (executive editor of The Dartmouth) and contributed to The Dartmouth Review. After completing her undergraduate degree, she pursued law and earned her J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law in 1995, graduating cum laude and as a member of the Order of the Coif. While at Northwestern, she served on the Law Review (Articles or).

During her law studies, she also spent a year at Harvard Law School, expanding her exposure to different academic environments.

Legal Career & Judicial Advocacy

Early Legal Work & Clerkships

After finishing law school, Wendy Long served as a law clerk to Judge Ralph K. Winter on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (1995–96). She then clerked for Justice Clarence Thomas at the U.S. Supreme Court (1997–98).

Between clerkships, she worked as an associate in the Washington, D.C. office of Kirkland & Ellis, and later, after moving to New York, joined their New York office, rising to become a litigation partner.

Judicial Confirmation Network & Legal Advocacy

In 2005, Long helped to found the Judicial Confirmation Network (later known as the Judicial Crisis Network). In this role, she has been counsel, public voice, and strategist, promoting judicial restraint and participating in debates over circuit court and Supreme Court nominees.

Through that work, she has publicly supported or opposed specific justices and nominees, engaging in media commentary, writing, and advocacy.

Long has also been involved in conservative legal organizations, given her connections with the Federalist Society and related networks, appearing as a speaker and legal commentator.

Political Engagement & Senate Campaigns

While Wendy Long’s primary base is legal work, she also ran for U.S. Senate twice in New York:

• 2012 U.S. Senate campaign: Long won the Republican primary and ran as the Republican and Conservative Party nominee against Democratic incumbent Kirsten Gillibrand. She lost by a wide margin.

• 2016 U.S. Senate campaign: She again ran (as Republican, Conservative, and Reform Party nominee) against Chuck Schumer, but was defeated decisively.

Her campaigns brought her into public debates on judicial philosophy, regulations, economic policy, and social issues.

In 2016, she was also a delegate to the Republican National Convention, supporting Donald Trump.

Views & Public Positions

Wendy Long is known to align with conservative judicial philosophy — emphasizing judicial restraint, skepticism toward activist jurisprudence, and support for originalism (the view that judges should interpret the Constitution based on its original public meaning). Her work with the Judicial Confirmation Network underscores this orientation.

She also has been active in pro-life and religiously informed advocacy. For instance, she worked for Americans United for Life before law school and has spoken on abortion and judicial appointments from a pro-life perspective.

Her religious identity has also evolved publicly: though raised Protestant, she became a Presbyterian, and later — during her studies — converted to Catholicism. She has engaged in church teaching, catechesis, and religious service.

On campaign finance matters, her 2012 campaign was later scrutinized through the legal case involving Dinesh D’Souza, who pleaded guilty to making illegal straw donations to her campaign.

Personality & Public Image

Wendy Long is often perceived as a principled legal advocate with strong convictions, especially on issues of jurisprudence, judicial philosophy, and social issues. Her repeated willingness to run, despite long odds in a heavily Democratic state like New York, suggests a commitment to making ideas heard, even if not winning office.

Her journey — from clerkships to litigation partner, to public advocacy, to electoral politics — illustrates how lawyers sometimes cross into policy and public discourse. Her religious commitment has been visible in her public identity, aligning her legal views and moral convictions.

Memorable Quotes

While Long is not primarily known for widely circulated quotable statements, some of her public remarks in law or politics reflect her principles. For instance:

• About judicial philosophy and selection: she has emphasized that federal judges must respect the limits of judicial authority and avoid creating law, instead interpreting what is written. (This is a common refrain in her advocacy, especially via the Judicial Confirmation Network.)

• On abortion and religious liberty: she has argued that judges who protect religious conscience and life are essential to maintaining constitutional freedom.

Because her public record is more legal writing and advocacy than aphoristic speeches, the best way to see her voice is in her op-eds, judicial commentary, and campaign statements (many archived online).

Lessons from Wendy Long’s Career

1. Legal pathway to public influence. Long’s route shows how a lawyer can influence politics and public policy even without holding elective office.

2. Bridging cases and ideas. Her work connects courtroom doctrine (in clerkships and litigation) with the public debate about the judiciary.

3. Courage to run in difficult terrain. Running for Senate in New York as a Republican is challenging; she did so to bring her ideas into public space.

4. Integration of faith and vocation. Her religious conversion and involvement show how personal convictions can shape public legal commitments.

5. Consistency matters. Over decades, she has remained in the conservative legal sphere, maintaining steady alignment with certain core principles.