Jim Kitchens
This page is about the Mississippi Supreme Court Justice. If you are looking for information on the Mississippi Circuit Court Judge, see James T. Kitchens.
2009 - Present
2025
15
Jim Kitchens is a judge for District 1-Place 3 of the Mississippi Supreme Court. He assumed office on January 5, 2009. His current term ends on January 5, 2025.
Kitchens is running for re-election for the District 1-Place 3 judge of the Mississippi Supreme Court. He is on the ballot in the general election on November 5, 2024.[source]
In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship, a study examining the partisan affiliation of all state supreme court justices in the country. As part of this study, we assigned each justice a Confidence Score describing our confidence in the degree of partisanship exhibited by the justices' past partisan behavior, before they joined the court.[1] Kitchens received a confidence score of Mild Democrat.[2] Click here to read more about this study.
Biography
Kitchens received a B.S. degree in 1964 from the University of Southern Mississippi and a J.D. from the University of Mississippi School of Law in 1967.[3] Prior to serving on the Mississippi Supreme Court, Kitchens worked as an attorney in private practice from 1967-1971 and 1982-2008, and as a District Attorney for Mississippi's Fourteenth Judicial District from 1971-1982.[3]
Elections
2024
See also: Mississippi Supreme Court elections, 2024
General election
The general election will occur on November 5, 2024.
General election for Mississippi Supreme Court District 1 Position 3
Incumbent Jim Kitchens, Jenifer Branning, Byron Carter, Ceola James, and Abby Robinson are running in the general election for Mississippi Supreme Court District 1 Position 3 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | ||
 | Jim Kitchens (Nonpartisan) | |
 | Jenifer Branning (Nonpartisan) | |
 | Byron Carter (Nonpartisan) | |
 | Ceola James (Nonpartisan) | |
 | Abby Robinson (Nonpartisan) | |
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Endorsements
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2016
Kitchens ran for re-election in 2016.[4] He faced challenger Kenny Griffis in the general election on November 8, 2016.
Election results
November 8 general election
| Mississippi Supreme Court, District 1, Place 3, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Jim Kitchens Incumbent |
53.54% | 185,169 |
| T. Kenneth Griffis | 46.46% | 160,661 |
| Total Votes (553 of 553 precincts reporting: 100%) | 345,830 | |
| Source: The New York Times | ||
2008
Kitchens won 53.4% of the vote, defeating sitting Chief Justice James W. Smith.[5]
| Candidate | Incumbent | Seat | Election % |  |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Jim Kitchens  |
No | District 1, Position 3 | 53.4% | |
| James W. Smith | Yes | District 1, Position 3 | 36% | |
| Ceola James | No | District 1, Position 3 | 10.4% |
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
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Analysis
Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship (2020)
Last updated: June 15, 2020
In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship, a study examining the partisan affiliation of all state supreme court justices in the country as of June 15, 2020.
The study presented Confidence Scores that represented our confidence in each justice's degree of partisan affiliation. This was not a measure of where a justice fell on an ideological spectrum, but rather a measure of how much confidence we had that a justice was or had been affiliated with a political party. The scores were based on seven factors, including but not limited to party registration.[6]
The five resulting categories of Confidence Scores were:
- Strong Democrat
- Mild Democrat
- Indeterminate[7]
- Mild Republican
- Strong Republican
This justice's Confidence Score, as well as the factors contributing to that score, is presented below. The information below was current as of June 2020.
Jim
Kitchens
Mississippi
- Partisan Confidence Score:
Mild Democrat - Judicial Selection Method:
Elected - Key Factors:
- Donated over $2,000 to Democratic candidates
- Endorsed by Democratic-affiliated individuals or organizations
Partisan Profile
Details:
Kitchens donated $12,100 to Democratic candidates and organizations. He received donations from individuals associated with the Democratic party, including former Mississippi Governors William Winter (D) and Ronnie Musgrove (D).
Other Scores:
In a 2012 study of campaign contributions, Kitchens received a campaign finance score of -0.46, indicating a liberal ideological leaning.
Bonica and Woodruff campaign finance scores (2012)
In October 2012, political science professors Adam Bonica and Michael Woodruff of Stanford University attempted to determine the partisan ideology of state supreme court justices. They created a scoring system in which a score above 0 indicated a more conservative-leaning ideology, while scores below 0 were more liberal.
Kitchens received a campaign finance score of -0.46, indicating a liberal ideological leaning. This was more liberal than the average score of 0.69 that justices received in Mississippi.
The study was based on data from campaign contributions by the judges themselves, the partisan leaning of those who contributed to the judges' campaigns, or, in the absence of elections, the ideology of the appointing body (governor or legislature). This study was not a definitive label of a justice, but an academic summary of various relevant factors.[8]
State supreme court judicial selection in Mississippi
- See also: Judicial selection in Mississippi
The nine justices on the Mississippi Supreme Court are elected to eight-year terms in nonpartisan elections. All candidates must run in the general election (as Mississippi holds no primary for judicial candidates) and must face re-election if they wish to serve again.[9] For more information about these elections, visit the Mississippi judicial elections page.
Unlike most states, supreme court justices in Mississippi are elected to represent specific districts. The nine justices are divided among three supreme court districts (not to be confused with the 22 divisions of the circuit courts) and are voted into office by the residents of their respective regions.[10] Only the states of Illinois, Kentucky, and Louisiana use a similar system.
Qualifications
To serve on this court, a judge must be:
- a qualified elector for and from the district in which election is sought;
- a minimum of 30 years old;
- a practicing attorney; and
- a state citizen for at least five years.[9]
Chief justice
The court's chief justice is selected by seniority. He or she serves until retirement when the justice with the next most judicial experience becomes chief.[9]
Vacancies
If a midterm vacancy occurs on the court, a temporary judge is named by the governor. Appointees serve out the remainder of their predecessor's unexpired term if four or fewer years of the term remain. If there are more than four years remaining, the appointee will run in the next general election, taking place nine months or more after the vacancy occurs. The winner of the election will serve the remainder of the term.[11]
The map below highlights how vacancies are filled in state supreme courts across the country.
See also
2024 Elections
External links
|
Candidate Mississippi Supreme Court District 1 Position 3 |
Officeholder Mississippi Supreme Court District 1 Position 3 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ We calculated confidence scores by collecting several data points such as party registration, donations, and previous political campaigns.
- ↑ The five possible confidence scores were: Strong Democrat, Mild Democrat, Indeterminate, Mild Republican, and Strong Republican.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 State of Mississippi Judiciary, "James W. Kitchens," accessed June 29, 2021
- ↑ The Clarion Ledger,"Justice Jim Kitchens seeks second term on high court," January 4, 2016
- ↑ Mississippi Secretary of State, "2008 General Election Results: District 1, Position 3," accessed June 29, 2021
- ↑ The seven factors were party registration, donations made to partisan candidates, donations made to political parties, donations received from political parties or bodies with clear political affiliation, participation in political campaigns, the partisanship of the body responsible for appointing the justice, and state trifecta status when the justice joined the court.
- ↑ An Indeterminate score indicates that there is either not enough information about the justice’s partisan affiliations or that our research found conflicting partisan affiliations.
- ↑ Stanford University, "State Supreme Court Ideology and 'New Style' Judicial Campaigns," October 31, 2012
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 National Center for State Courts, "Methods of Judicial Selection," accessed September 7, 2021
- ↑ State of Mississippi Judiciary, "Supreme Court," accessed September 7, 2021
- ↑ National Center for State Courts, "Methods of Judicial Selection," accessed September 7, 2021
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