“I’m extremely excited. It’s the privilege of a lifetime,” Quinn told the Enterprise on Tuesday.

She has already started her new role at the Court of Claims and is currently also serving as an acting state Supreme Court justice.

Quinn applied to sit on the Court of Claims in February 2023. She was notified of her appointment on May 31 and appeared before the state Senate judiciary committee on June 5. She was approved the next day by the Senate and sworn in by current Essex County judge Richard Meyer.

Prior to her appointment, Quinn served as the principal court attorney under Meyer for 18 years. He will retire at the end of his second 10-year term on Dec. 31; Quinn was running to serve as his successor on both the Democratic and Working Families party lines. With Quinn out of the race, the only candidate for county judge currently is Essex County District Attorney Kristy Sprague, who is running on the Republican and Conservative party lines.

“I extend my heartfelt congratulations to Amy Quinn on her appointment to the Court of Claims. I wish Amy and her family all the best on this exciting and important opportunity,” Sprague said.

Election Day is Nov. 5. Democratic and Working Families vacancy committees have until June 16, 10 days from Quinn’s withdrawal, to submit a new candidate or candidates to the Essex County Board of Elections to run in Quinn’s stead. Quinn said that she does not know who will run for county judge in her place, and that as a sitting judge, she cannot involve herself in politics now.

“I’m done with political processes,” she said.

Quinn’s legal career spans 28 years, entirely in Essex County. In 1996, she began representing both indigent — or impoverished — residents and private clients in the county’s courts. In 2000, she was appointed assistant Essex County attorney, representing the Department of Social Services in matters of child abuse, child support and children in need of services.

She began working for Meyer in 2006 and told the News in January that she always anticipated eventually taking over for him when he retired.

“I recognize the need for an experienced judge who is able to step in on day one with the experience and qualifications to fairly and expeditiously rule on cases, so that people can have justice,” she said.

Quinn, 53, is a graduate of the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, and New England College School of Law. She lives in Lake Placid with her husband Andrew, the Essex County commissioner of jurors and a village trustee. They have two sons, Kevin and Patrick.