State judicial elections, 2021

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2021 State
Judicial Elections
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View judicial elections by state:

A total of 15 appellate court seats were up for election in 2021. This includes:

  • 1 supreme court seat
  • 14 intermediate appellate court seats.

Ballotpedia provided coverage of supreme court and intermediate appellate court elections, as well as local trial court elections for judges within the 100 largest cities in the United States as measured by population.

On this page, you will find:

Click here for information on state intermediate appellate court elections. Click here for information on local trial court elections.

Overview

The map below details which states held state judicial elections in 2021 and how many seats were up for election on each court.

List of 2021 elections

The table below details which states held state judicial elections in 2021 and how many seats were up for election on each court. Each cell contains a link to more information about the supreme court or intermediate appellate court elections in the specified state.

2021 State Judicial Elections
State Supreme court Intermediate appellate court
Louisiana N/A 2 seats
Pennsylvania 1 seat 7 seats
Washington N/A 2 seats
Wisconsin N/A 3 seat

Judicial selection methods

See also: Judicial selection in the states

Methods of judicial selection vary substantially across the United States.[1] Though each state has a unique set of guidelines governing how they fill their state and local judiciaries, there are five main methods. Two methods are primarily election-based; three methods are primarily appointment-based.

Election-based methods

  • Partisan elections: Judges are elected by the people, and candidates are listed on the ballot alongside a label designating political party affiliation.
  • Nonpartisan elections: Judges are elected by the people, and candidates are listed on the ballot without a label designating party affiliation.

Appointment-based methods

  • Gubernatorial appointment: Judges are appointed by the governor. In some cases, approval from the legislative body is required.
  • Assisted appointment, also known as merit selection or the Missouri Plan: A nominating commission reviews the qualifications of judicial candidates and submits a list of names to the governor, who appoints a judge from the list. After serving an initial term, judges typically run in a yes-no retention election to remain on the court.[2] At the state supreme court level, this selection method is further divided into three types. Click here to learn more.
  • Legislative elections: Judges are selected by the state legislature.

States may apply more than one of the five methods across different levels of courts. For example, a state may choose its appellate court judges by assisted appointment while choosing its trial court judges in partisan elections. Some states may even select judges of the same court level differently depending on the population of an area or local opinion.[1][2] States may also modify any of the systems above in their own way. The assisted appointment method, in particular, comes in a variety of forms. For instance, some states require the governor to choose from the commission's list of nominees, while in other states the list is only a suggestion.[1]

Types of courts

Depending on your state, judges from several different types of courts may appear on the ballot, each with different jurisdictions. There are four types of courts, listed here in ascending order of jurisdiction:

  1. Limited jurisdiction courts
  2. General jurisdiction courts
  3. Intermediate appellate courts
  4. Courts of last resort

Limited jurisdiction courts

Limited jurisdiction is a term used to describe courts with legal authority restricted to specific subjects, cases, or persons. Examples of limited jurisdiction courts include family courts, traffic courts, probate courts, and military courts.[3] Forty-six states have limited jurisdiction courts. Washington, D.C., and four states (California, Illinois, Iowa, and Minnesota) do not have such courts.[4] Rather, their general jurisdiction courts are assigned cases that might normally have been given to a limited jurisdiction court.

General jurisdiction courts

General jurisdiction is a term used to describe courts that do not have limits on the type of cases they can hear. Cases typically originate in general jurisdiction courts, and their decisions can be appealed to intermediate appellate courts. All 50 states and Washington, D.C., have general jurisdiction courts. General jurisdiction courts are sometimes referred to as trial courts or district courts.

Intermediate appellate courts

See also: State intermediate appellate court elections, 2021

Intermediate appellate courts, as their name suggests, serve as an intermediate step between the trial courts and the courts of last resort in a state. Their jurisdiction varies from state to state.

Forty-two states have at least one intermediate appellate court. Some states have more than one of these types of courts. For example, Alabama has one intermediate appellate court for civil matters and another for criminal matters. Pennsylvania's superior court and commonwealth court are both appellate courts but have different jurisdictions. Other states, such as Illinois and California, have multiple divisions of intermediate appellate courts with varying degrees of independence from each other. Intermediate appellate courts are sometimes called courts of appeal.

Courts of last resort

See also: State supreme court elections, 2021

A state court of last resort is the highest judicial body within a jurisdiction's court system. It is a court with the highest appellate authority, meaning that its rulings are not subject to review by any other court in the state. A court of last resort is often, but not always, referred to as a supreme court.[5]

All 50 states and Washington, D.C., have at least one court of last resort. Oklahoma and Texas both have two courts of last resort, one for civil appeals and one for criminal appeals.

List of state supreme court elections in 2021

See also: State supreme court elections, 2021

The map and table below detail which state held elections for supreme court seats in 2021. States shown in gray in the map did not hold supreme court elections in 2021.

2021 State Supreme Court Elections
State Seats up for election Election method General election date
Pennsylvania 1 Partisan November 2, 2021


List of state intermediate court elections in 2021

See also: State intermediate appellate court elections, 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

State supreme court incumbent win rates

Incumbent win rates by year

Incumbents tend to do better in elections for any office than newcomers facing incumbents. This is no less true in state supreme court elections. Across all types of state supreme court elections, incumbent justices running for re-election won 93% of the time from 2008-2020. No more than six incumbent justices have lost in a single year during this time frame. 2008 was the year with the lowest incumbent win rate at 89%.

Incumbent win rates in state supreme court elections (2008-2020)
Election year Total incumbent elections Incumbent elections won Incumbent elections lost Incumbent win rate
2020 70 64 6 91%
2019 0 0 0 None
2018 59 53 6 90%
2017 4 4 0 100%
2016 55 53 2 96%
2015 1 1 0 100%
2014 52 52 0 100%
2013 3 3 0 100%
2012 53 50 3 94%
2011 2 2 0 100%
2010 63 57 6 90%
2009 1 1 0 100%
2008 56 50 6 89%
Total 419 390 29 93%

Incumbent win rates in partisan elections

In partisan elections, incumbents running for re-election won 90% of the time from 2008-2020. 2018 saw incumbents lose four seats, the greatest number of seats lost by incumbents during this timeframe.

Incumbent win rates in partisan state supreme court elections (2008-2020)
Election year Total incumbent elections Incumbent elections won Incumbent elections lost Incumbent win rate
2020 14 12 2 86%
2019 0 0 0 None
2018 14 10 4 71%
2017 3 3 0 100%
2016 2 1 1 50%
2015 0 0 0 None
2014 8 8 0 100%
2013 2 2 0 100%
2012 11 10 1 91%
2011 1 1 0 100%
2010 12 12 0 90%
2009 0 0 0 None
2008 11 11 0 100%
Total 78 70 8 90%

Incumbent win rates in nonpartisan elections

In nonpartisan elections, incumbents running for re-election won 94% of the time from 2008-2020. 2008 and 2010 both saw six incumbents lose in nonpartisan elections. Ohio and Michigan had partisan primaries but nonpartisan general elections and so are counted here as holding nonpartisan elections.

Incumbent win rates in nonpartisan state supreme court elections (2008-2020)
Election year Total incumbent elections Incumbent elections won Incumbent elections lost Incumbent win rate
2020 27 24 3 89%
2019 0 0 0 None
2018 45 43 2 96%
2017 1 1 0 100%
2016 53 52 1 98%
2015 1 1 0 100%
2014 44 44 0 100%
2013 1 1 0 100%
2012 42 40 2 95%
2011 1 1 0 100%
2010 51 45 6 88%
2009 1 1 0 100%
2008 45 39 6 87%
Total 312 292 20 94%

Incumbent win rates by state

Among the 38 states that conduct elections for supreme court justices, 13 have seen incumbents lose elections from 2008-2020. These were Alabama, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. In the other 25 states, incumbent supreme court justices won re-election 100% of the time from 2008-2020.

Incumbent win rates by state in state supreme court elections (2008-2020)
State Total incumbent elections Incumbent elections won Incumbent elections lost Incumbent win rate
Alabama 9 7 2 78%
Alaska 6 6 0 100%
Arizona 11 11 0 100%
Arkansas 3 3 0 100%
California 8 8 0 100%
Colorado 10 10 0 100%
Florida 13 13 0 100%
Georgia 14 14 0 100%
Idaho 9 9 0 100%
Illinois 10 9 1 90%
Indiana 9 9 0 100%
Iowa 17 14 3 82%
Kansas 13 13 0 100%
Kentucky 9 8 1 89%
Louisiana 4 4 0 100%
Maryland 6 6 0 100%
Michigan 12 9 3 75%
Minnesota 16 16 0 100%
Mississippi 16 13 3 81%
Missouri 6 6 0 100%
Montana 11 11 0 100%
Nebraska 11 11 0 100%
Nevada 12 12 0 100%
New Mexico 9 8 1 89%
North Carolina 8 4 4 50%
North Dakota 8 8 0 100%
Ohio 14 9 5 64%
Oklahoma 29 29 0 100%
Oregon 14 14 0 100%
Pennsylvania 6 6 0 100%
South Dakota 6 6 0 100%
Tennessee 8 8 0 100%
Texas 34 33 1 97%
Utah 5 5 0 100%
Washington 22 21 1 95%
West Virginia 6 4 2 67%
Wisconsin 8 6 2 75%
Wyoming 8 8 0 100%


Historical election data

There were 894 state judicial elections held from 2016 to 2021.

State judicial elections, 2016-2020
Year Court of last resort seats Intermediate appellate court seats Total
2020
78
201
279
2019
3
14
17
2018
68
244
312
2017
4
17
21
2016
76
189
265
Total
229
665
894

Courts of last resort

Retention

From 2016 to 2020, retention elections took place for 88 judicial seats on courts of last resort. All but one of those judges were retained.

Non-retention

There were 141 non-retention elections held from 2016 to 2020, with 94 races contested (66.7%). Incumbents ran for re-election 76.1% of the time. Of the incumbents who ran for re-election, 87% won re-election.

The table below is organized by year and includes the total number of seats up for election, the number of contested seats, the number and percentage of incumbents who sought re-election, the number and percentage of incumbents who faced opposition, and the number and percentage of incumbents who won another term.

Court of last resort elections, 2016-2020
Year Total seats Seats contested Incumbents who
sought re-election 		% incumbents who
sought re-election 		Incumbents who
faced opposition 		% incumbents who
faced opposition 		Incumbents who
were re-elected 		% incumbents who
were re-elected
2020
49
37
41
83.7%
29
70.7%
36
87.8%
2019
3
3
0
0.0%
0
0.0%
0
0.0%
2018
45
25
34
75.6%
19
55.9%
28
82.4%
2017
2
1
2
100%
1
50.0%
2
100%
2016
42
28
31
73.8%
17
54.8%
28
90.3%
Total
141
94
108
76.6%
66
61.1%
94
87.0%

Intermediate appellate courts

Retention

From 2016 to 2020, retention elections took place for 275 judicial seats on intermediate appellate courts. Of those, 275 of those judges were retained.

Non-retention

There were 390 non-retention elections from 2016 to 2020, with 177 races contested (45.4%). Incumbents ran for re-election 77.2% of the time. Of the incumbents who ran for re-election, 84.4% won re-election.

The table below is organized by year and includes the total number of seats up for election, the number of contested seats, the number and percentage of incumbents who sought re-election, the number and percentage of incumbents who faced opposition, and the number and percentage of incumbents who won another term.

Intermediate appellate court elections, 2016-2020
Year Total seats Seats contested Incumbents who
sought re-election 		% incumbents who
sought re-election 		Incumbents who
faced opposition 		% incumbents who
faced opposition 		Incumbents who
were re-elected 		% incumbents who
were re-elected
2020
117
57
93
79.5%
37
39.8%
84
90.3%
2019
10
7
5
50.0%
0
0.0%
5
100.0%
2018
142
69
112
78.9%
44
39.3%
82
73.2%
2017
16
11
6
37.5%
3
50.0%
4
66.7%
2016
105
33
85
81.0%
20
23.5%
79
92.9%
Total
390
177
301
77.2%
104
34.6%
254
84.4%

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection," archived February 2, 2015
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 American Bar Association, "Judicial Selection: The Process of Choosing Judges," June 2008
  3. ↑ US Legal, "Limited Jurisdiction Law & Legal Definition," accessed December 17, 2015
  4. ↑ National Center for State Courts, "Limited Jurisdiction Courts—Challenges, Opportunities, and Strategies for Action," accessed September 23, 2015
  5. ↑ U.S. Legal, "Court of last resort Definition," accessed August 25, 2013
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