A Maine Superior Court justice has been nominated by President Donald Trump to replace U.S. District Judge John Woodcock, according to Maine’s U.S. senators.

Lance Walker, 46, of Falmouth was nominated to the state District Court bench in early 2014 by Gov. Paul LePage and unanimously confirmed. He became a Superior Court justice in November 2015.

Walker, through his secretary at the Cumberland County Courthouse in Portland, declined to comment.

If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Walker would be the U.S. District judge in Bangor. Federal judges are appointed for life.

Woodcock went on active senior status last summer, creating the vacancy on the federal court bench. Judges are allowed to move to active senior status after they have reached the age of 65 and been on the bench for 15 years.

“During his nearly two decades of experience as both an attorney in private practice and as a judge in Maine’s judicial system, Justice Walker has demonstrated that he has the intelligence, temperament, and integrity required for this important position,” Collins and King said Tuesday in a joint statement. “Justice Walker has made numerous contributions to Maine’s legal community and would serve our state well as a federal judge. We look forward to working with our colleagues in the Senate to confirm Justice Walker.”

On the Maine District Court bench, Walker presided over a wide variety of dockets, primarily in Androscoggin and Oxford counties, the senators said in a news release. He also worked for more than a dozen years in the Portland law firm Norman, Hanson & DeTroy as a trial and appellate attorney as well as a legal consultant specializing in complex litigation and insurance law. He became a partner after six years.

Walker was born in Milo and raised in Dover-Foxcroft, where his parents owned and operated a hardware store and travel agency. His father was also an engineer on the Canadian Pacific Railway in Brownville Junction. After graduating from Foxcroft Academy in 1990, Walker attended the University of Maine, where he earned a bachelor of arts in philosophy, and the University of Maine School of Law.

Walker lives in Falmouth with his wife, Heidi, and their two daughters, Ava and Dylan.

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