State judicial elections, 2016
| 2016 State Judicial Elections | |
|---|---|
2017 »
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| Part 1: Overview | |
| Part 2: Supreme Courts | |
| Part 3: Partisanship | |
| Part 4: Changes in 2016 | |
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Sixty-three state supreme courts and intermediate appellate courts across 34 states held elections in 2016.
Out of 265 total seats elected in 2016, 31 seats were elected prior to November 8; 234 were elected on November 8.
Click here for information on local trial court elections.
Overview
In 19 states, elections were contested in partisan or nonpartisan elections; in 13 states, judges were up for retention elections. Two states, Illinois and New Mexico, had both contested races and judges standing for retention.
In a partisan election, candidates may be nominated by political parties or declare their party affiliations upon filing to stand in the election. Primaries are typically held to narrow down the candidates to one per party before the general election; some states hold primaries in which candidates of all parties compete with each other and the top vote-getters advance, regardless of party. In a nonpartisan election, some states require candidates to declare their party affiliations while some states prohibit them from doing so. If primaries are held, they do not narrow the candidates to one per party; instead, they typically narrow the candidates to two for each seat, regardless of party.
In a retention election, an incumbent judge does not face an opponent. A question is placed on the ballot asking whether each judge shall be retained for another term, and voters choose "yes" or "no." Judges must receive majority "yes" votes in order to remain in their seats.
To learn more about judicial selection methods, click here.
| 2016 State Judicial Elections | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| State | 2016 Elections | State | 2016 Elections |
| Alabama | 3 seats | Mississippi | 8 seats |
| Alaska | 3 seats | Missouri | 3 seats |
| Arizona | 7 seats | Montana | 3 seats |
| Arkansas | 6 seats | Nebraska | 7 seats |
| Colorado | 11 seats | Nevada | 5 seats |
| Florida | 31 seats | New Mexico | 6 seats |
| Georgia | 3 seats | North Carolina | 6 seats |
| Idaho | 3 seats | North Dakota | 2 seats |
| Illinois | 7 seats | Ohio | 30 seats |
| Indiana | 4 seats | Oklahoma | 7 seats |
| Iowa | 7 seats | Oregon | 8 seats |
| Kansas | 11 seats | Tennessee | 10 seats |
| Kentucky | 1 seat | Texas | 26 seats |
| Louisiana | 6 seats | Washington | 9 seats |
| Maryland | 5 seats | West Virginia | 1 seat |
| Michigan | 8 seats | Wisconsin | 5 seats |
| Minnesota | 10 seats | Wyoming | 3 seats |
Noteworthy elections
- Main article: State supreme court elections, 2016
North Carolina
One seat on the North Carolina Supreme Court was up for nonpartisan election. This seat was held by Justice Robert H. Edmunds Jr., who ran for re-election. The 2016 election was to have marked the first time a North Carolina justice would face a retention election, due to a June 2015 law that changed elections for incumbent justices. But a panel of three Wake County judges ruled this law unconstitutional on March 4, 2016, and the North Carolina State Board of Elections opened a filing period of March 16 through March 25 for a contested election for the seat. The state appealed the ruling to the North Carolina Supreme Court. On May 6, the supreme court issued a divided ruling (3-3, with Justice Edmunds recused) upholding the ruling of the lower court.[1] The 2016 election was therefore contested rather than a retention election.
Justice Edmunds was defeated by challenger Judge Michael R. Morgan. The state supreme court held a 4-3 Republican-affiliated majority going into the election. With Justice Robert H. Edmunds, Jr. defeated, the balance shifted to a 4-3 Democratic-affiliated majority.
Ohio
The Ohio Supreme Court had a 6-1 Republican majority heading into the election. Three seats were up for election in 2016. Incumbent Justice Maureen O'Connor (R) was unopposed. Justices Judith Ann Lanzinger and Paul Pfeifer both reached mandatory retirement age, and both Republican and Democratic candidates vied for their seats. Republican candidates won both seats, preserving the Republican majority at 6-1.
Wisconsin
One seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court was up for nonpartisan election on April 5, 2016. Going into the election, the seat was held by Republican-affiliated Justice Rebecca Bradley, who was appointed to the court in 2015 by Governor Scott Walker. Since Bradley's appointment, there has been a 5-2 conservative majority on the court. Bradley and Democratic-affiliated Judge JoAnne Kloppenburg won a primary election on February 16, 2016, defeating third candidate Joe Donald.
In the general election on April 5, Bradley defeated Kloppenburg in an election with the highest voter turnout for a state supreme court race in Wisconsin history, overlapping with the presidential primary.
Partisan balance of state supreme courts
Six states use partisan elections to choose justices for their courts of last resort.
Republicans controlled four courts of last resort in 2016:
- Alabama Supreme Court
- Louisiana Supreme Court
- Texas Supreme Court and Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
Democrats controlled three state supreme courts in 2016:
In addition to these partisan elections, some states have judges nominated by political parties at state conventions:
- Michigan Supreme Court (5-2 Republican)
- Ohio Supreme Court (6-1 Republican)
And in West Virginia, where judicial elections were partisan until a 2015 law was passed, Democrats held a 3-2 advantage in the state supreme court heading into the new nonpartisan 2016 elections and continued to hold it in the wake of the race.
See also
Footnotes
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