State supreme court elections, 2008

As of 2008, there were 338 state Supreme Court justices in the United States. The paths taken by each justice to a seat on a state Supreme Court vary significantly from state to state.

• Eight states choose their supreme court justices in partisan elections. This includes nine courts, since Texas has two courts of last resort.
• Fifteen states choose justices in nonpartisan elections.
• Of the states that use an assisted appointment method of judicial selection, most hold retention elections at some point for their justices.
• Some states have gubernatorial appointment of judges to fill their supreme courts, but even in states that have other primary methods of choosing justices, the governor can play a key role when a vacancy occurs between elections.
• Two states use the method of legislative election of judges.

Transitions in 2008

• Twenty-seven state supreme court seats were contested (in either partisan or nonpartisan elections) on November 4, 2008.
• Two state supreme court electoral contests were concluded in April and May.
• Eighteen justices faced retention elections.

Election results

Alabama

Harold See retired from the court, leaving an open seat.

Candidate	Incumbent	Seat	Party	Election votes	Election %
Greg Shaw A	No		Republican	1,021,371	50.3%
Deborah Bell Paseur	No		Democratic	1,008,479	49.6%

Alaska

Robert L. Eastaugh was retained with 63.5% of the vote in 2008.

Candidate	Incumbent
Robert L. Eastaugh A	Yes

Arizona

Scott Bales was retained with 77% of the vote in 2008.

Candidate	Incumbent
Scott Bales A	Yes

Arkansas

Justices Paul E. Danielson and Jim Hannah were re-elected after running unopposed.

Candidate	Incumbent
Paul E. Danielson A	Yes
Jim Hannah A	Yes

Florida

Charles T. Wells was retained in 2008.

Candidate	Incumbent
Charles T. Wells A	Yes

Georgien

Robert Benham and Harris Hines were re-elected after running unopposed.

Candidate	Incumbent
Robert Benham A	Yes
Harris Hines A	Yes

Idaho

Justice Horton was re-elected in May 2008, outlasting a challenge from John Bradbury. Warren E. Jones was re-elected after running unopposed.

Candidate	Incumbent	Seat	Election votes	Election %
Joel Horton A	Yes	Horton Seat	75,691	50.1%
John Bradbury	No	Horton Seat	75,438	49.9%

Candidate	Incumbent
Warren E. Jones A	Yes

Illinois

Anne M. Burke was appointed to the court in 2006 and elected to a full term in 2008 after running unopposed.

Candidate	Incumbent
Anne M. Burke A	Yes

Indiana

Three justices were retained to the Indiana Supreme Court in 2008: Randall T. Shephard with 73.2% of the vote, Brent E. Dickson with 72.8% of the vote, and Theodore R. Boehm with 71.1% of the vote.

Candidate	Incumbent
Randall T. Shephard A	Yes
Brent E. Dickson A	Yes
Theodore R. Boehm A	Yes

Iowa

Three justices were retained to the Iowa Supreme Court in 2008: Brent Appel with 72.3% of the vote, Mark Cady with 72.9% of the vote, and Daryl L. Hecht with 71.7% of the vote.

Candidate	Incumbent
Brent Appel A	Yes
Mark Cady A	Yes
Daryl L. Hecht A	Yes

Kansas

Two justices were retained to the Kansas Supreme Court: Eric Rosen with 69.9% of the vote and Lee A. Johnson with 70.2% of the vote.

Candidate	Incumbent
Eric Rosen A	Yes
Lee A. Johnson A	Yes

Kentucky

In 2008, incumbent Justice Lisabeth Tabor Hughes was challenged by Jim Shake. Abramson and Shake both applied to fill the vacancy on the court created by the retirement of William E. McAnulty, Jr. in 2007; Abramson was appointed by Governor Ernie Fletcher.

Daniel Venters and Mary Noble were re-elected after running unopposed.

Candidate	Incumbent	Seat	Election votes	Election %
Lisabeth Tabor Hughes A	Yes	4th District	159,378	55.2%
Jim Shake	No	4th District	129,152	44.8%

Candidate	Incumbent
Daniel Venters A	Yes
Mary Noble A	Yes

Louisiana

Elections for two seats were held in 2008, in the First and Fifth Districts. Chief Justice Pascal Calogero retired from the court, leaving a vacancy in the First District. With the election of Greg Guidry, a Republican would represent the district on the court for the first time in thirty-six years.

Fifth District Justice Catherine Kimball was challenged in her re-election bid and won, making her the most senior justice on the court and the new Chief Justice. Kimball became the first female to serve as Chief Justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court, as she had also been the first female justice on the court.

Candidate	Incumbent	Seat	Party	Primary votes	Primary %	Election votes	Election %
Greg Guidry A	No	1st District	Republican	45,354	41.4%	160,893	59.7%
Jimmy Kuhn	No	1st District	Republican	32,890	30%	108,541	40.2%
Roland Belsome	No	1st District	Democratic	31,107	28.4%

Candidate	Incumbent	Seat	Party	Election votes	Election %
Catherine Kimball A	Yes	5th District	Democratic	113,939	64.6%
Jeff Hughes	No	5th District		62,269	35.3%

Michigan

Diane Hathaway was elected to the court, defeating incumbent Justice Clifford Taylor.

Candidate	Incumbent	Seat	Party	Election votes	Election %
Diane Hathaway A	No	Taylor Seat	Democratic	1,852,950	49.3%
Clifford Taylor	Yes	Taylor Seat	Republican	1,483,668	39.4%
Robert Roddis	No	Taylor Seat	Libertarian	420,823	11.1%

Minnesota

Lorie Gildea was re-elected to the court in 2008.

Candidate	Incumbent	Seat	Primary votes	Primary %	Election votes	Election %
Lorie Gildea A	Yes		169,017	53.4%	1,103,963	55%
Deborah Hedlund	No		56,477	17.8%	894,683	44.5%
Richard Gallo	No		35,576	11.2%
Jill Clark	No		55,129	17.4%

Candidate	Incumbent	Seat	Primary votes	Primary %	Election votes	Election %
Paul Anderson A	Yes		205,154	63.8%	1,261,595	60.4%
Tim Tingelstad	No		69,448	21.8%	818,797	39.2%
Alan Nelson	No		46,645	14.5%

Mississippi

Candidate	Incumbent	Seat	Election votes	Election %
Jim Kitchens A	No	District 1, Position 3	215,487	53.4%
James W. Smith	Yes	District 1, Position 3	145,141	36%
Ceola James	No	District 1, Position 3	42,269	10.4%

Candidate	Incumbent	Seat	Election votes	Election %
Randy Pierce A	No	District 2, Position 2	228,908	58.1%
Oliver Diaz	Yes	District 2, Position 2	165,072	41.9%

Candidate	Incumbent	Seat	Election votes	Election %
Ann Lamar A	Yes	District 3, Position 1	233,366	61.8%
Gene Barton	No	District 3, Position 1	143,867	38.1%

Candidate	Incumbent	Seat	Election votes	Election %
David Chandler A	No	District 3, Position 2	251,905	66.7%
Charles Easley	Yes	District 3, Position 2	125,265	33.2%

Missouri

Patricia Breckenridge was retained to the Missouri Supreme Court with 73.3% of the vote.

Candidate	Incumbent
Patricia Breckenridge A	Yes

Montana

Chief Justice Karla M. Gray retired from the court, leaving an open seat. Mike McGrath was elected to the court.

Candidate	Incumbent	Seat	Election votes	Election %
Mike McGrath A	No	Chief Justice	319,462	75.1%
Ron Waterman	No	Chief Justice	105,614	24.8%

Candidate	Incumbent
Patricia Cotter A	Yes

Nevada

In 2008, the retirement of Justice A. William Maupin left a vacant Seat B which lead to a competitive race. Kris Pickering won in the general election, following a primary featuring four candidates.

Justice Mark Gibbons was re-elected to Seat D, overcoming a challenge from Thomas Christensen.

Candidate	Incumbent	Seat	Primary votes	Primary %	Election votes	Election %
Kris Pickering A	No	Seat B	45,983	25.3%	353,873	42%
Deborah Schumacher	No	Seat B	42,886	23.6%	329,058	39%
None of these candidates		Seat B	12,155	6.7%	159,715	18.9%
Nancy Allf	No	Seat B	39,715	21.9%
Don Chairez	No	Seat B	40,563	22.3%

Candidate	Incumbent	Seat	Election votes	Election %
Mark Gibbons A	Yes	Seat D	456,467	54.8%
Thomas Christensen	No	Seat D	210,092	25.2%
None of these candidates		Seat D	166,188	19.9%

New Mexico

Charles Daniels and Patricio Serna were retained to the New Mexico Supreme Court, with 74.6% and 72.9% of the vote, respectively.

Candidate	Incumbent
Charles Daniels A	Yes
Patricio Serna A	Yes

North Carolina

In the November 4, 2008 general election, incumbent Justice Robert H. Edmunds, Jr. ran against Suzanne Reynolds, a law professor at Wake Forest University School of Law, to defend his seat and remain on the court.

Candidate	Incumbent	Seat	Party	Election votes	Election %
Robert Edmunds A	Yes	Edmunds Seat	Nonpartisan	1,577,419	51%
Suzanne Reynolds	No	Edmunds Seat	Nonpartisan	1,515,345	49%

North Dakota

Mary Maring and Daniel Crothers were re-elected to the court after running unopposed.

Candidate	Incumbent
Mary Muehlen Maring A	Yes
Daniel Crothers A	Yes

Ohio

In the November 2008 general election, incumbent Justice Maureen O'Connor ran against Judge Joseph Russo, of the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas, for the term commencing on January 1, 2009 seat. O'Connor won re-election.

Incumbent Justice Evelyn Stratton ran against Judge Peter Sikora, of the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas, for the term beginning on January 2, 2009 seat. Stratton won re-election.

Candidate	Incumbent	Seat	Party	Primary votes	Primary %	Election votes	Election %
Maureen O'Connor A	Yes	Term commencing January 1, 2009	Republican	782,423	100%	2,970,588	67.1%
Joseph Russo	No	Term commencing January 1, 2009	Democratic	1,415,692	100%	1,453,784	32.9%

Candidate	Incumbent	Seat	Party	Primary votes	Primary %	Election votes	Election %
Evelyn Stratton A	Yes	Term commencing January 2, 2009	Republican	716,835	100%	2,664,137	63.1%
Peter Sikora	No	Term commencing January 2, 2009	Democratic	1,267,130	100%	1,554,521	36.9%

Oklahoma

Three justices were retained to the Oklahoma Supreme Court in 2008: John F. Reif with 63.2% of the vote, Tom Colbert with 66.1% of the vote, and Joseph M. Watt with 63.7% of the vote.

Candidate	Incumbent
John F. Reif A	Yes
Tom Colbert A	Yes
Joseph M. Watt A	Yes

Oregon

Martha Lee Walters was re-elected to the court after running unopposed.

Candidate	Incumbent
Martha Lee Walters A	Yes

Tennessee

William Koch was retained to the Tennessee Supreme Court with 76.1% of the vote.

Candidate	Incumbent
William Koch, Jr. A	Yes

Texas

Texas Supreme Court

Three incumbents were re-elected to the Texas Supreme Court in 2008, Wallace Jefferson, Dale Wainwright and Phil Johnson.

Candidate	Incumbent	Seat	Party	Election votes	Election %
Wallace Jefferson A	Yes	Chief Justice	Republican	4,092,181	53.1%
Jim Jordan	No	Chief Justice	Democratic	3,374,433	43.7%
Tom Oxford	No	Chief Justice	Libertarian	239,063	3.1%

Candidate	Incumbent	Seat	Party	Election votes	Election %
Dale Wainwright A	Yes	Place 7	Republican	3,926,015	51%
Sam Houston	No	Place 7	Democratic	3,525,141	45.8%
David Smith	No	Place 7	Libertarian	232,211	3%

Candidate	Incumbent	Seat	Party	Election votes	Election %
Phil Johnson A	Yes	Place 8	Republican	4,018,396	52.3%
Linda Yanez	No	Place 8	Democratic	3,428,179	44.6%
Drew Shirley	No	Place 8	Libertarian	234,092	3%

Texas Court of Criminal Appeals

Candidate	Incumbent	Seat	Party	Election votes	Election %
Tom Price A	Yes	Place 3	Republican	3,949,722	51.6%
Susan Strawn	No	Place 3	Democratic	3,482,718	45.5%
Matthew Eilers	No	Place 3	Libertarian	216,060	2.8%

Candidate	Incumbent	Seat	Party	Election votes	Election %
Paul Womack A	Yes	Place 4	Republican	4,044,788	52.9%
J.R. Molina	No	Place 4	Democratic	3,340,754	43.7%
Dave Howard	No	Place 4	Libertarian	250,672	3.2%

Candidate	Incumbent	Seat	Party	Election votes	Election %
Cathy Cochran A	Yes	Place 9	Republican	4,719,538	81.8%
William Bryan Strange	No	Place 9	Libertarian	1,043,642	18.1%

Washington

Mary Fairhurst and Charles W. Johnson were re-elected to the court, fending off challenges. Debra L. Stephens was re-elected to the court after running unopposed.

Candidate	Incumbent	Seat	Primary votes	Primary %	Election votes	Election %
Mary Fairhurst A	Yes	Position #3	701,259	60.6%		100%
Michael Bond	No	Position #3	455,893	39.4%

Candidate	Incumbent	Seat	Primary votes	Primary %	Election votes	Election %
Charles W. Johnson A	Yes	Position #4	663,330	59.2%		100%
James Beecher	No	Position #4	340,004	30.4%
Frank Vulliet	No	Position #4	116,970	10.4%

Candidate	Incumbent
Debra L. Stephens A	Yes

West Virginia

Menis Ketchum and Margaret Workman were elected to the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals in a three-way race for two open seats in the general election.

In the May primary, incumbent Justice Elliott Maynard did not garner enough votes to advance to the general election. Democrat Menis Ketchum and Margaret Workman won the Democratic primary, while Beth Walker ran unopposed in the Republican primary.

Candidate	Incumbent	Seat	Party	Primary votes	Primary %	Election votes	Election %
Menis Ketchum A	No	Maynard Seat	Democratic	135,563	27%	355,778	34.8%
Margaret Workman A	No	Maynard Seat	Democratic	180,599	35.9%	336,346	32.9%
Elizabeth Walker	No	Maynard Seat	Republican	86,545	100%	329,395	32.2%
Elliott E. Maynard	Yes	Maynard Seat	Democratic	97,409	19.4%
Robert Bastress	No	Maynard Seat	Democratic	88,490	17.6%

Wisconsin

Judge Michael Gableman defeated Justice Louis Butler in the Spring Election on April 1, 2008, after a hotly-contested campaign. The defeat of Butler was the first time since 1967 that a challenger defeated an incumbent Supreme Court Justice for a seat on Wisconsin's highest court. Justice George Currie lost his bid for re-election after he allowed the Milwaukee Braves baseball team to relocate to Atlanta.

With the election of Gableman, it was the first time in 110 years there was not a justice from Milwaukee on the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

Candidate	Incumbent	Seat	Election votes	Election %
Michael Gableman A	No		425,101	51.1%
Louis Butler	Yes		402,798	48.5%

Wyoming

William U. Hill was retained to the Wyoming Supreme Court with 79% of the vote.

Candidate	Incumbent
William U. Hill A	Yes

See also

• Portal:Judicial elections
• Judicial selection in the states