William Cassel
2012 - Present
2029
12
William Cassel is a judge for District 3 of the Nebraska Supreme Court. He assumed office on May 9, 2012. His current term ends on January 4, 2029.
Cassel ran for re-election for the District 3 judge of the Nebraska Supreme Court. He won in the retention election on November 8, 2022.
Gov. Dave Heineman (R) appointed Cassel on April 26, 2012, to succeed Justice John Gerrard.[1] He was retained by voters in 2016 and 2022. To read more about judicial selection in Nebraska, click here.
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.[2] Cassel received a confidence score of Mild Republican.[3] Click here to read more about this study.
Cassel served as a judge on Nebraska's Eighth District Court from 1992 to 2004 and on the Nebraska Court of Appeals from 2004 to 2012.
Biography
Cassel was born on September 20, 1955, in Ainsworth, Neb..[1] He received a bachelor's and a law degree from the University of Nebraska in Lincoln in 1977 and 1979, respectively.[1] Cassel owned and operated a private practice from 1979 to 1992. During that time, he was also the city attorney in Ainsworth, Long Pine, and Johnstown.[1]
In 1992, Cassel was appointed as a judge on Nebraska's Eighth District Court. He held that position until 2004 when he was appointed to the Nebraska Court of Appeals. In 2012, Gov. Dave Heineman (R) appointed Cassel to the Nebraska Supreme Court.[1]
Elections
Nebraska Supreme Court (2012-present)
Cassel was appointed to the Nebraska Supreme Court by Gov. Dave Heineman (R) on April 26, 2012, to succeed Justice John Gerrard. He assumed office on May 9, 2012.[1]
2022
See also: Nebraska Supreme Court elections, 2022
Nebraska Supreme Court District 3, William Cassel's seat
William Cassel was retained to District 3 of the Nebraska Supreme Court on November 8, 2022 with 72.4% of the vote.
Retention Vote |
% |
Votes |
|||
| ✔ | Yes |
72.4
|
67,276 | ||
No |
27.6
|
25,648 | |||
Total Votes |
92,924 | ||||
|
|
2016
- See also: Nebraska Supreme Court elections, 2016
Cassel was retained by voters on November 8, 2016, receiving 72.6% of the vote.[4]
| Nebraska Supreme Court, District 3 2016 general election results | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | Percent | ||
William Cassel 
|
80,854 | 72.6% | ||
| Against retention | 30,442 | 27.4% | ||
Nebraska Court of Appeals (2004-2012)
Cassel was appointed to the Nebraska Court of Appeals in 2004.[1]
2008
Cassel was retained by voters on November 4, 2008, receiving 68.9% of the vote.[5]
| Nebraska Court of Appeals, District 3 2008 general election results | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | Percent | ||
| William Cassel
|
62,583 | 68.9% | ||
| Against retention | 25,569 | 28.1% | ||
Nebraska Eighth District Court (1992-2004)
Cassel was appointed to the Nebraska Eighth District Court in 1992.[1]
2002
Cassel was retained by voters on November 7, 2002, receiving 70.1% of the vote.[6]
| Nebraska Eighth District Court 2002 general election results | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | Percent | ||
| William Cassel
|
12,527 | 70.1% | ||
| Against retention | 5,346 | 29.9% | ||
1996
Cassel was retained by voters on November 5, 1996, receiving 70.4% of the vote.[7]
| Nebraska Eighth District Court 1996 general election results | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | Percent | ||
| William Cassel
|
14,765 | 70.4% | ||
| Against retention | 6,218 | 29.6% | ||
Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
William Cassel did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
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.[8]
The five resulting categories of Confidence Scores were:
- Strong Democrat
- Mild Democrat
- Indeterminate[9]
- 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.
William
Cassel
Nebraska
- Partisan Confidence Score:
Mild Republican - Judicial Selection Method:
Assisted appointment through hybrid judicial nominating commission - Key Factors:
- Was a registered Republican before 2020
- Donated less than $2,000 to Republican candidates
- Appointed by a Republican governor
Partisan Profile
Details:
Cassel was a registered Republican prior to 2020. He donated $500 to Republican candidates. He was appointed by a Gov. Dave Heineman (R) in 2012 while Nebraska was a Republican trifecta.
State supreme court judicial selection in Nebraska
- See also: Judicial selection in Nebraska
The seven justices on the Nebraska Supreme Court are selected through the assisted appointment method. The governor appoints each new justice from a list of at least two qualified nominees assembled by a judicial nominating commission.[10][11] There are separate judicial nominating commissions for each supreme court district, as well as the chief justiceship. Each commission is made up of nine members. Members of the Nebraska State Bar Association select four lawyers and the governor appoints four nonlawyers. The ninth member is a supreme court justice who serves as chairman but does not vote.[11][12]
Justices must run in a yes-no retention election during the first general election occurring after they have been on the court for three years. Subsequent terms last six years.[13]
Qualifications
To serve on the Nebraska Supreme Court, a person must:
- be at least 30 years old;
- be a U.S. citizen;
- have practiced law in Nebraska for at least five years;
- be a member of the state bar; and
- be a resident of the judicial district for which they are being appointed.[14]
Chief justice
The chief justice of the supreme court is selected through the same assisted appointment method as other justices on the court and serves in that role for the duration of his or her time on the court.[15]
Vacancies
When a vacancy occurs on the Nebraska Supreme Court, a judicial nominating commission submits the names of at least two qualified nominees to the governor, who appoints one to fill the vacancy. If the governor does not appoint one of the nominees within 60 days, the chief justice of the supreme court is authorized to select a new judge.[13]
The map below highlights how vacancies are filled in state supreme courts across the country.
See also
2022 Elections
External links
|
Officeholder Nebraska Supreme Court District 3 |
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Nebraska State Government, "State Judicial Branch," accessed July 20, 2021
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ Nebraska Secretary of State, "Revised Official Report of the Board of State Canvassers," accessed July 21, 2021
- ↑ Nebraska Secretary of State, "Official Results of the Nebraska General Election - November 4, 2008," accessed July 21, 2021
- ↑ Nebraska Secretary of State, "Official Results of the Board of State Canvassers of the State of Nebraska," accessed July 21, 2021
- ↑ Nebraska Secretary of State, "Official Results of the Board of State Canvassers of the State of Nebraska," accessed July 21, 2021 - requires downloading archived canvass books
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ National Center for State Courts, "Judicial Selection in the States: Nebraska | Overview," accessed August 16, 2021
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 National Center for State Courts, "Judicial Selection in the States: Nebraska | Judicial Nominating Commissions," accessed August 16, 2021
- ↑ Nebraska Legislature, "Nebraska State Constitution Article V-21," accessed August 16, 2021
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 State of Nebraska Judicial Branch, "Branch Overview," accessed August 16, 2021
- ↑ Nebraska Legislature, "Nebraska Revised Statute 24-202," accessed August 16, 2021
- ↑ National Center for State Courts, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Nebraska," accessed August 16, 2021
| ||||||||||
| |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Current |
Chief Justice: Michael Heavican • Lindsey Miller-Lerman • William Cassel • Jeffrey Funke • Stephanie Stacy • John Freudenberg • Jonathan Papik | ||
| Former |
Kenneth Stephan • John Gerrard • Michael McCormack • William Connolly (Nebraska) • John Wright (Nebraska) • Harvey Johnsen • Max Kelch • | ||
Federal courts:
Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: District of Nebraska • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: District of Nebraska
State courts:
Nebraska Supreme Court • Nebraska Court of Appeals • Nebraska District Courts • Nebraska County Courts • Nebraska Separate Juvenile Courts • Nebraska Workers' Compensation Court • Nebraska Problem-Solving Courts
State resources:
Courts in Nebraska • Nebraska judicial elections • Judicial selection in Nebraska
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