Kansas judicial elections, 2014
| Kansas judicial elections, 2014 | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Total candidates: | 115 |
| Primary candidates: | 42 |
| General election candidates: | 105 |
| Incumbency | |
| Incumbents: | 99 |
| Incumbent success rate: | 99% |
| Competition - general election | |
| Percent of candidates in contested races: | 2% |
| Percent uncontested: | 30% |
| Percent retention: | 68% |
| Partisan victories | |
Republican 
|
21 |
Democratic 
|
11 |
| Judicial Elections |
|---|
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| Elections Portal |
| Judicial election dates |
| Candidates by state |
| Supreme court elections |
The Kansas judicial elections consist of partisan and retention elections.
There were a total of 105 candidates in the general election. Seventy-two judges ran for retention. There was only one contested race in the general.
Election dates
- June 1: Filing deadline (district court)
- August 4: Filing deadline (retention)
- August 5: Primary
- November 4: General election[1][2][3]
In addition to candidate lists, this page includes information about how the state's judicial elections work, as well as articles about noteworthy news in races across the state.
General election: Contested races
(I) denotes incumbent
District 18, Division 5
- Gregory L. Waller (I), 47.5%
- Seth L. Rundle, 52.4%
Retentions
The following judges must face a retention election in order to keep their seat. In such elections, the incumbent judge is not being evaluated against an opponent. Rather, he or she simply receives votes of "yes" to retain or "no", do not retain.
Appellate courts
| Court | Judge | Votes |
|---|---|---|
| Click the arrows in the column headings to sort columns alphabetically. | ||
| Kansas Supreme Court | Eric Rosen | 52.7% |
| Kansas Court of Appeals | Henry Green (Kansas) | 66.3% |
| Kansas Court of Appeals | Kim R. Schroeder | 61.6% |
| Kansas Supreme Court | Lee Johnson | 52.6% |
| Kansas Court of Appeals | Melissa Standridge | 60.6% |
| Kansas Court of Appeals | Michael Buser | 58.9% |
| Kansas Court of Appeals | Patrick McAnany | 59.3% |
| Kansas Court of Appeals | Stephen Hill | 59.5% |
| Kansas Court of Appeals | Thomas E. Malone | 67% |
| Kansas Court of Appeals | Tony Powell | 66.1% |
Trial courts
General election: Uncontested
The following candidates were elected or re-elected after running unopposed in the general election.
Trial courts
| Court | Candidate |
|---|---|
| Click the arrows in the column headings to sort columns alphabetically. | |
| Twenty-Ninth Judicial District | Aaron Roberts |
| Eighteenth Judicial District | Ben Burgess |
| Twenty-Ninth Judicial District | Bill L. Klapper |
| 26th District Court | Bradley E. Ambrosier |
| Twenty-Fourth Judicial District | Bruce Gatterman |
| Eighteenth Judicial District | David Kaufman |
| Seventeenth Judicial District | Deb Anderson |
| Twenty-Ninth Judicial District | Delia M. York |
| Twenty-Second Judicial District | Elizabeth Ensley Deiter |
| Fourteenth Judicial District | F. William Cullins |
| Eighteenth Judicial District | Faith Maughan |
| Twenty-Third Judicial District | Gregory L. Gillespie |
| Twenty-Ninth Judicial District | J. Dexter Burdette |
| Twenty-Second Judicial District | James A. Patton |
| 13th District Court | Jan Satterfield |
| Fourteenth Judicial District | Jeffrey D. Gossard |
| Eighteenth Judicial District | John Kisner, Jr. |
| 27th District Court | Joseph McCarville |
| Twenty-Ninth Judicial District | Kathleen M. Lynch |
| 19th District Court | LaDonna Lanning |
| 26th District Court | Linda Gilmore |
| Eighteenth Judicial District | Michael Hoelscher |
| Thirteenth Judicial District | Mike Ward |
| Eighteenth Judicial District | Robb Rumsey |
| Twentieth Judicial District | Ron Svaty |
| Sixteenth Judicial District | Sid R. Thomas |
| Eighteenth Judicial District | Timothy G. Lahey |
| Twenty-Ninth Judicial District | Timothy L. Dupree |
| 27th District Court | Trish Rose |
| Twenty-Ninth Judicial District | Wesley K. Griffin |
| 29th District Court | William P. Mahoney |
Primary results
For full results from the judicial primary, please see: Kansas primary elections, 2014.
There were seven judicial primary races on August 5, 2014.
- In the 14th District, Jeffrey D. Gossard won the Republican primary for Division 2. Because no Democrats filed for the seat, Gossard was unopposed on November 4.
- In the 16th District, Sid R. Thomas won the Republican primary for Division 1. Because no Democrats filed for the seat, Thomas was unopposed on November 4.
- In the 18th District, Seth L. Rundle won the Republican primary for Division 5. He faced Democrat Gregory L. Waller on November 4. In the race for Division 19, Michael Hoelscher won the Republican primary and was unopposed in the general election.
- In the 29th District, Timothy L. Dupree won the state's only Democratic judicial primary, which was for Division 11. He was unopposed in the general election.
- in the 22nd District, the Republican primary for Magistrate 3 was decided by only 14 votes, with Elizabeth Ensley Deiter coming out on top. She was unopposed in the general election.
- In the 23rd District, Gregory L. Gillespie won the Republican primary for Magistrate 1 and was unopposed in the general election.[4]
Process
Primary election
Only district court judges in districts that hold partisan elections participate in the primary. The candidate with the most votes from each party (Democratic or Republican) in the primary go on to represent that party in the general election.[5]
The districts with partisan election of judges are:
General election
Appellate judges and appointed district court judges participate in retention elections. Candidates in the districts above advance from the primary election.
In retention elections, judges do not compete against another candidate, but voters are given a "yes" or "no" choice whether to keep the justice in office for another term. If a candidate receives a majority of "yes" votes, that person is retained for another term. If not, that position will become a vacancy upon the term's expiration.[7]
Recent news
The following articles were current as of the dates listed.
| Click for story→ | |
|---|---|
| See also: JP Election Brief: 2014 retention report
Despite major campaigning against the retention of Kansas Supreme Court Justices Lee Johnson and Eric Rosen, the two managed to remain on the court after they both received 52.6 percent of the retention votes. The opposition sprung from the court's 6-1 decision to overturn the death sentences of Jonathan and Reginald Carr, who were convicted of a 2000 Wichita quadruple homicide. The campaign against the justices was led by the pro-life group Kansans for Life Political Action Committee, as well as a group called Kansans for Justice, which was comprised of friends and relatives of the Carr brothers' victims. Amy Scott James, who dated one of the homicide victims, said that although the justices were retained, their campaign was "an accomplishment with limited time and resources. Some made this political, but it was never political for the families of the Carr brothers’ victims."[8] | |
| Click for story→ | ||||
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| See also: JP Election Brief: Looking back on primaries in four states as candidates advance toward November
There are 31 district courts in Kansas. Interestingly, 17 of the judicial districts hold retention elections, and 14 hold partisan elections. A 1972 amendment to the state constitution gave districts the opportunity to opt for retention elections with the commission-selection, political appointment method of choosing judges. Before that time, all district judges were chosen through partisan elections.[9]
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See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Politics1, "Kansas"
- ↑ Politics1, "Kansas"
- ↑ Kansas Secretary of State, "2014 Election Calendar"
- ↑ Kansas Secretary of State, "2014 Unofficial Kansas Primary Election Results," accessed August 6, 2014
- ↑ Kansas Secretary of State: Election Standards - Election Administration Scroll to p."II-5"
- ↑ Kansas Judicial Branch, Nominating Commissions
- ↑ Kansas State Library, "Kansas Constitution, Article Three," accessed April 28, 2014
- ↑ The Wichita Eagle, "Kansans vote to retain justices Lee Johnson, Eric Rosen," November 4, 2014
- ↑ American Judicature Society, "History of Reform Efforts: Kansas," accessed April 29, 2014
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Federal courts:
Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: District of Kansas • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: District of Kansas
State courts:
Kansas Supreme Court • Kansas Court of Appeals • Kansas District Courts • Kansas Municipal Courts
State resources:
Courts in Kansas • Kansas judicial elections • Judicial selection in Kansas