Partisan election of judges
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This judicial selection article needs to be expanded. Seven states elect their Supreme Court justices in partisan elections. A partisan election is one where the candidates are listed on the ballot along with a label designating which political party they are affiliated with.
Altogether, fifty-eight state high court justices (eighteen in Texas alone) are elected to office in partisan elections, which is about 17% of all 338 state supreme court justices. Put another way, of all of the justices in the 49 other states outside of Texas, only 12% (40 out of 320) are chosen via partisan elections.
Two additional states, Michigan and Ohio, have an election process that includes partisan and non-partisan elements. In Ohio, candidates for the Ohio general election are chosen in partisan primaries; once chosen in this partisan fashion, no party affiliation is listed by their names on the general election ballot. Candidates for the Michigan Supreme Court are nominated at party conventions, which means that they are chosen in a partisan fashion. However, no partisan affiliation is listed by their name as it appears on the ballot.
See State supreme court justices chosen in partisan elections.
Initial election, subsequent elections
In these states, Supreme Court justices are elected in partisan elections, and then again stand for partisan elections for subsequent terms:
- Alabama. There are nine justices on the Alabama Supreme Court. They serve six year terms.
- Kentucky. The seven justices on the Kentucky Supreme Court serve eight-year terms.
- Louisiana. The seven justices on the Louisiana Supreme Court serve ten-year terms.
- Texas. Texas has two courts of last resort, Texas Supreme Court and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. There are nine justices on each court; they all serve six-year terms.
- West Virginia. The five justices on the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia serve twelve-year terms.
Altogether, forty-six (46) justices on state Supreme Courts are elected and then re-elected in partisan elections, of the 338 justices in all states, or 13%.
Initial election, subsequent retention votes
In these states, Supreme Court justices are elected in partisan elections for their first term in office. For their subsequent terms in office, they are chosen (or rejected) in a retention election, with no opponent.
- Illinois. The seven justices of the Illinois Supreme Court serve ten-year terms.
- New Mexico. The five justices of the New Mexico Supreme Court serve eight-year terms. A 1994 judicial reform in New Mexico established that justices must earn 57% of the vote in retention elections or they are dismissed.
- Pennsylvania Supreme Court. The seven justices of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court serve ten-year terms.
Altogether, nineteen (19) justices on state Supreme Courts are elected first in partisan elections, and then subsequently continue in office through retention votes.
See also
- Non-partisan election of judges
- Commission-selection, political appointment method of judicial selection
- Legislative election of judges
- State Supreme Court justices
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