State intermediate appellate court elections, 2021

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Four states held intermediate appellate court elections in 2021. Fourteen seats were up for election. Louisiana and Wisconsin held elections in April. Pennsylvania and Washington held elections in November.

Louisiana: A special election for two seats on the Louisiana Circuit Courts of Appeal was held in 2021. A primary was held on March 20. A general election was held on April 24. Elections to the court are partisan, and a full term is 10 years.

Pennsylvania: The terms of four Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court and two Pennsylvania Superior Court judges expired on January 3, 2022. Additionally, one seat on the Superior Court was vacant. Two Commonwealth Court judges and two Superior Court judges had to stand for retention election in order to remain on the bench. Three seats were up for partisan election: the Commonwealth Court seat held by Judge Andrew Crompton, the Commonwealth Court seat held by retiring Judge Mary Hannah Leavitt, and the vacant seat on the Superior Court. Primary elections were held on May 18 and the general election was held on November 2. A full term on both courts is 10 years.

Washington: The terms of two Washington Court of Appeals judges expired on January 10, 2022. The seats, held by Judge James Verellen of Division I and Judge Bernard Veljacic of Division II, were up for nonpartisan election on November 2, 2021. The primaries for these seats were canceled. A full term on the court is six years. The Divison I seat was up for a regular six-year term, while the Division II seat was up for a three-year unexpired term.^[1]

Wisconsin: The terms of three Wisconsin Court of Appeals judges expired on July 31, 2021. A nonpartisan election was held on April 6, 2021. The February 16 primary was canceled. A full term on the court is six years.

Intermediate appellate courts serve as a step between states' trial courts and courts of last resort (commonly referred to in most states as supreme courts). Forty-two states have at least one intermediate appellate court.

According to a white paper from the Council of Chief Judges of the State Courts of Appeal, "In most states ... intermediate appellate courts were established to relieve the workload of the state’s highest court by serving as the courts where most litigants obtain review of adverse decisions from trial courts and various administrative agencies." However, "by virtue of sheer volume, intermediate appellate courts are the court of last resort for most litigants, and their role in the appellate system has evolved from the original purpose of relieving the workload of higher courts by absorbing their error-correcting function to also playing a significant role in advancing the law in cases of first impression."^[2]

Judges are selected by election for 48% of the 978 state intermediate appellate court seats in the country.

This page includes:

2021 election results
A list of state intermediate appellate court elections in 2021
Information about judicial selection methods
Information about noteworthy state intermediate appellate court elections in 2021
Links to more analysis about state elections

Click here for information on state supreme court elections in 2021. Click here for information on local trial court elections in 2021.

Election results

Partisan

Two states held partisan elections for intermediate appellate court seats in 2021.

Partisan election overview
State	Seats up for election	Incumbents up for election	Incumbents defeated	Partisan breakdown before	Partisan breakdown after
Louisiana	2	0	0	1 • 1	1 • 1
Pennsylvania	3	1	1	3	1 • 2

Partisan election results

Louisiana Second Circuit Court of Appeal

District 1

Louisiana elections use the majority-vote system. All candidates compete in the same primary, and a candidate can win the election outright by receiving more than 50 percent of the vote. If no candidate does, the top two vote recipients from the primary advance to the general election, regardless of their partisan affiliation.

General election

Special general election for Louisiana 2nd Circuit Court of Appeal 1st District

Marcus Hunter defeated J. Garland Smith in the special general election for Louisiana 2nd Circuit Court of Appeal 1st District on April 24, 2021.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Marcus Hunter (D)	61.5	3,579
	J. Garland Smith (D)	38.5	2,244

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 5,823
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Nonpartisan primary election

Special nonpartisan primary for Louisiana 2nd Circuit Court of Appeal 1st District

Marcus Hunter and J. Garland Smith defeated Larry D. Jefferson in the special primary for Louisiana 2nd Circuit Court of Appeal 1st District on March 20, 2021.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Marcus Hunter (D)	43.7	3,605
✔	J. Garland Smith (D)	31.9	2,628
	Larry D. Jefferson (D)	24.4	2,013

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 8,246
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District 2

Louisiana elections use the majority-vote system. All candidates compete in the same primary, and a candidate can win the election outright by receiving more than 50 percent of the vote. If no candidate does, the top two vote recipients from the primary advance to the general election, regardless of their partisan affiliation.

Nonpartisan primary election

The primary election was canceled. Jeff Robinson (R) won the election without appearing on the ballot.

Pennsylvania Superior Court and Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court

Pennsylvania Superior Court

General election

General election for Pennsylvania Superior Court

Megan Sullivan defeated Timika Lane in the general election for Pennsylvania Superior Court on November 2, 2021.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Megan Sullivan (R)	53.6	1,478,252
	Timika Lane (D)	46.4	1,278,771

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 2,757,023
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Pennsylvania Superior Court

Timika Lane defeated Jill Beck and Bryan Neft in the Democratic primary for Pennsylvania Superior Court on May 18, 2021.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Timika Lane	48.8	482,433
	Jill Beck	39.7	392,205
	Bryan Neft	11.5	113,393

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 988,031
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Pennsylvania Superior Court

Megan Sullivan advanced from the Republican primary for Pennsylvania Superior Court on May 18, 2021.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Megan Sullivan	100.0	881,046

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 881,046
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Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court

General election

General election for Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court (2 seats)

Stacy Wallace and Lori A. Dumas defeated incumbent Andrew Crompton and David Spurgeon in the general election for Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court on November 2, 2021.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Stacy Wallace (R)	26.6	1,355,445
✔	Lori A. Dumas (D)	25.4	1,297,253
	Andrew Crompton (R)	25.0	1,274,899
	David Spurgeon (D)	23.0	1,175,974

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 5,103,571
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court (2 seats)

Lori A. Dumas and David Spurgeon defeated Amanda Green-Hawkins and Sierra Thomas Street in the Democratic primary for Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court on May 18, 2021.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Lori A. Dumas	29.7	517,311
✔	David Spurgeon	26.5	460,769
	Amanda Green-Hawkins	25.6	445,400
	Sierra Thomas Street	18.3	318,017
	Other/Write-in votes	0.0	289

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,741,786
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court (2 seats)

Stacy Wallace and incumbent Andrew Crompton advanced from the Republican primary for Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court on May 18, 2021.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Stacy Wallace	50.3	704,706
✔	Andrew Crompton	49.7	695,748

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,400,454
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Nonpartisan

Two states held nonpartisan general elections for intermediate appellate court seats in 2021.

Nonpartisan election overview
State	Seats up for election	Incumbents up for election	Incumbents defeated
Washington	2	2	0
Wisconsin	3	2	1

Nonpartisan election results

Washington Court of Appeals

Washington Court of Appeals Division I District 1

General election

General election for Washington Court of Appeals Division I District 1

Incumbent James Verellen won election in the general election for Washington Court of Appeals Division I District 1 on November 2, 2021.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	James Verellen (Nonpartisan)	98.8	365,428
	Other/Write-in votes	1.2	4,623

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 370,051
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Nonpartisan primary election

The primary election was canceled. Incumbent James Verellen advanced from the primary for Washington Court of Appeals Division I District 1.

Washington Court of Appeals Division II District 3

General election

General election for Washington Court of Appeals Division II District 3

Incumbent Bernard Veljacic won election in the general election for Washington Court of Appeals Division II District 3 on November 2, 2021.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Bernard Veljacic (Nonpartisan)	92.4	98,351
	Other/Write-in votes	7.6	8,048

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 106,399
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Nonpartisan primary election

The primary election was canceled. Incumbent Bernard Veljacic advanced from the primary for Washington Court of Appeals Division II District 3.

Wisconsin Court of Appeals

Wisconsin Court of Appeals District I

General election

General election for Wisconsin Court of Appeals District I

Incumbent Maxine A. White won election in the general election for Wisconsin Court of Appeals District I on April 6, 2021.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Maxine A. White (Nonpartisan)	98.8	65,986
	Other/Write-in votes	1.2	775

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 66,761
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Nonpartisan primary election

The primary election was canceled. Incumbent Maxine A. White advanced from the primary for Wisconsin Court of Appeals District I.

Wisconsin Court of Appeals District II

General election

General election for Wisconsin Court of Appeals District II

Shelley Grogan defeated incumbent Jeffrey Davis in the general election for Wisconsin Court of Appeals District II on April 6, 2021.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Shelley Grogan (Nonpartisan)	55.8	149,073
	Jeffrey Davis (Nonpartisan)	44.1	117,756
	Other/Write-in votes	0.1	329

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 267,158
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Nonpartisan primary election

The primary election was canceled. Incumbent Jeffrey Davis and Shelley Grogan advanced from the primary for Wisconsin Court of Appeals District II.

Wisconsin Court of Appeals District III

General election

General election for Wisconsin Court of Appeals District III

Greg Gill Jr. defeated Rick Cveykus in the general election for Wisconsin Court of Appeals District III on April 6, 2021.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Greg Gill Jr. (Nonpartisan)	55.1	123,532
	Rick Cveykus (Nonpartisan)	44.7	100,158
	Other/Write-in votes	0.2	383

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 224,073
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Nonpartisan primary election

The primary election was canceled. Rick Cveykus and Greg Gill Jr. advanced from the primary for Wisconsin Court of Appeals District III.

Retention

One state held retention elections for intermediate appellate court seats in 2021.

Retention election overview
State	Incumbents up for retention	Incumbents retained
Pennsylvania	4	4

Retention election results

Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court and Pennsylvania Superior Court

Commonwealth court

Covey's seat

Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court

Anne Covey was retained to the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court on November 2, 2021 with 61.8% of the vote.

	Retention Vote	%	Votes
✔	Yes	61.8	1,410,818
	No	38.2	872,863
	Total Votes		2,283,681

It has been certified. Source

Jubelirer's seat

Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court

Renée Cohn Jubelirer was retained to the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court on November 2, 2021 with 62.7% of the vote.

	Retention Vote	%	Votes
✔	Yes	62.7	1,426,901
	No	37.3	847,169
	Total Votes		2,274,070

It has been certified. Source

Pennsylvania Superior Court

Bender's seat

Pennsylvania Superior Court

John T. Bender was retained to the Pennsylvania Superior Court on November 2, 2021 with 62.2% of the vote.

	Retention Vote	%	Votes
✔	Yes	62.2	1,428,650
	No	37.8	868,407
	Total Votes		2,297,057

It has been certified. Source

Bowes' seat

Pennsylvania Superior Court

Mary Jane Bowes was retained to the Pennsylvania Superior Court on November 2, 2021 with 63.3% of the vote.

	Retention Vote	%	Votes
✔	Yes	63.3	1,447,916
	No	36.7	839,106
	Total Votes		2,287,022

It has been certified. Source

List of elections in 2021

The map and table below detail which states held elections for intermediate appellate court seats in 2021. The darker shade of green a state appears on the map, the more seats were on the ballot. States shown in gray in the map did not hold intermediate appellate court elections in 2021.

2021 State Intermediate Appellate Court Elections
State	Seats up for election	Election method	Previous election
Louisiana	2 seats	Partisan	2020
Pennsylvania	7 seats	Partisan and retention	2019
Washington	2 seats	Nonpartisan	2020
Wisconsin	3 seats	Nonpartisan	2020

Judicial selection methods

See also: Judicial selection in the states

States use a variety of methods to elect intermediate appellate court judges. Four states hold partisan elections, three states hold partisan and retention elections, 12 states hold nonpartisan elections, 14 states hold retention elections, and one state, Ohio, has partisan primary elections and nonpartisan general elections. Nine states select intermediate appellate court judges using appointments, and eight states do not have intermediate appellate courts.

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.

Noteworthy elections

Pennsylvania Superior Court

See also: Pennsylvania intermediate appellate court elections, 2021

Megan Sullivan (R) defeated Timika Lane (D) in the general election for judge of the Pennsylvania Superior Court on November 2, 2021. Lane won the Democratic primary on May 18, 2021. Sullivan was unopposed in the Republican primary.

Democratic primary overview

Lane, a Philadelphia Common Pleas judge, previously worked as a public defender. She said, "I am the only judge running. I am the only one with experience on both sides of the aisle. ... Eleven of the 14 judges on Superior Court, they were all judges first."^[3]

Beck, an attorney in Pittsburgh, worked in the Allegheny County family court system. She also clerked for Justice Christine Donahue in the state superior and supreme courts.^[4] Beck said, "I have represented some of the most vulnerable members of our population, largely dedicating my career to helping the underserved."^[3]

Neft, an attorney with a background in commercial litigation, clerked for Superior Court Judge William Cercone and was president of the Allegheny County Bar Association.^[4]^[5] He said, "In addition to my 30 years of experience, which is a broader-based experience than the other two candidates that are running, I come with a lot of Democratic values."^[3]

Beck's endorsers included state Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa (D) and several unions, including the United Mine Workers of America and the United Steelworkers. Lane's endorsers included U.S. Reps. Dwight Evans (D-Penn.) and Susan Wild (D-Penn.), the Working Families Party, and several unions, including the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO. State Rep. Anita Astorino Kulik (D) endorsed Neft.^[5]

According to Centre Daily Times, "A large number of appeals flow to the Superior Court from the trial courts. ... The court often is the final arbiter of legal disputes. Although the Supreme Court may grant a petition for review of a Superior Court decision, most petitions are denied, and the ruling of the Superior Court stands."^[6]

Analysis of state elections

See also: Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2021

In 2021, six states held elections for executive, legislative, or judicial seats, including elections for three of the nation's 99 state legislative chambers, 15 appellate court seats, and two gubernatorial offices.

All state elections:

2021 primary election competitiveness in state government

Top 15 elections to watch

Ballotpedia's 2021 Candidate Connection report

Trifectas

Trifecta vulnerability in the 2021 elections

Election results, 2021: State government trifectas

State executive elections:

State executive official elections, 2021

Gubernatorial elections, 2021

Secretary of State elections, 2021

Attorney General elections, 2021