Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship/Methodology and Definitions

Overview of Confidence Scoring Results →

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State Partisanship

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Overview

Methodology and defintions • Overview of Confidence Scoring Results • State Supreme Court Control Compared to State Government Trifectas • Breakdown of Justices by Confidence Categories

The Most and Least Divided State Supreme Courts

The Least Homogeneous State Supreme Courts • The Most Homogeneous State Supreme Courts • The Percentage of the Population that Lives in States with Democratic- or Republican-Controlled Courts

Judicial Selection Methods and Partisanship

Partisanship of Justices Across Judicial Selection Methods • Comparison of Appointment Methods by Court Balance Score and Median Court Score • Difficulties with Our Analysis of Pure Partisanship Scores by Selection Method

Partisan Balance Rules

Retention Elections and Vacancy Appointments

Retention Elections • Vacancy Appointments

Confidence Scores

Highest Confidence Scores • Indeterminate Justice Confidence Scores • Pure Partisan Scores

June 2020

Click to see:

• Methodology
• Definitions

Methodology

While other studies have attempted to use partisan indicators to discern the ideological leanings of each state supreme court justice, throughout our study we realized that partisan activity within each state is not a completely accurate indicator of ideological leanings. Therefore, the first phase of our project traces the partisan activity of each state supreme court justice within each state. We refer to our scores as Confidence Scores because we believe they provide insight into the degree of confidence we have in each justice’s political leanings because of his or her previous partisan activity. We do not believe that there is a perfect correlation between partisan activity and ideological leanings. Phase two of our study attempts to test this hypothesis by looking at governing majorities on a few of the nation’s divided courts. We will attempt to discern the connection between partisanship and ideology by looking at the governing majorities on a number of courts, and tracing the degree to which justices deviate from the justices who share similar partisan ties as themselves on the court of last resort.

The term Confidence Score describes our confidence in the determination of a state supreme court justice's partisan affiliations. A Confidence Score is not a measure of where a justice falls on the political or ideological spectrum, but rather a measure of how much confidence we have that a justice is or has been affiliated with a political party.

A Strong score, therefore, does not mean that we have evaluated the justice to be a staunch member of a political party; rather, a Strong score means that we have been able to trace past involvement with the political party in question.

The range of Confidence Scores that we have found from the data in our study ranges from -17 to 15 on a scale from -18 to 18. We present Confidence Scores in one of five categories, as opposed to a numerical score, in order to stress that our Confidence Scores are not intended to emphasize comparisons between individual justices. Instead, our study compiles information from readily available sources to allow readers to better understand the partisan leanings of supreme court justices in their home states. The categories for justices are:

• Strong Democrat
• Mild Democrat
• Indeterminate
• Mild Republican
• Strong Republican

We measure our confidence in political affiliation of state supreme court justices by considering a variety of factors, such as:

• party registration (current and former)
• donations made by the justice to partisan candidates
• donations made by the justice to political parties themselves
• donations to the justice’s own campaign by political parties or bodies with clear political affiliation
• the partisanship of the body responsible for appointing the justice to the state supreme court
• political campaigns that the justice has participated in
• state trifecta status

Scoring methodology

Data gathered on each justice is placed into one of two tiers, based on how representative we believe that data may be about partisanship.

• Factors in Tier 1 are most representative of partisanship. We assign them a three-point value. These are categorized as “strong indicators.”
• Factors in Tier 2 are less representative of partisanship. We assign them a two-point value. These are categorized as “mild indicators.”

In the end, each justice receives a total score between -18 and 18. We sought an alternative to numerical scores, and we devised categories for each justice based on the score we gave them.

We chose to divide the scores into quintiles, following this division with these labels:

• Strong Republican Affiliation: 10 to 18
• Mild Republican Affiliation: 4 to 9
• Indeterminate Affiliation: -3 to 3
• Mild Democrat Affiliation:-4 to -9
• Strong Democrat Affiliation: -10 to -18

Simplified Scoring Index

Click to expand the table below to see a simplified version of the scoring system for our state supreme courts project:

Simplified scoring index
State	Justice Name	Confidence Score	Current Party Registration	Worked on Political Campaign	Donations to partisan campaigns > $2,000	Held partisan political office	Past Party Registration	Donations to partisan campaigns > $2,000	Contributions to his or her own campaign by partisan bodies	Partisanship of body responsible for appointment
Alabama	Tommy Bryan	Strong R	R	No	R	No	>	>	R	Elected
Alabama	William Sellers	Strong R	R	No	R	No	>	>	R	R
Alabama	Jay Mitchell	Strong R	R	No	<	No	>	R	R	Elected
Alabama	Tom Parker	Strong R	R	No	R	R	>	>	R	Elected
Alabama	Greg Shaw	Strong R	R	No	R	No	>	>	R	Elected
Alabama	Brad Mendheim	Strong R	R	No	R	No	>	>	R	R
Alabama	Kelli Wise	Strong R	R	No	R	R	--	>	R	--
Alabama	Michael Bolin	Mild R	R	No	<	No	--	R	R	--
Alabama	Sarah Stewart	Mild R	R	No	No	No	>	No	R	--
Alaska	Daniel Winfree	Mild R	None	No	<	No	None	R	None	R
Alaska	Joel Bolger	Mild R	None	No	None	No	None	None	None	R
Alaska	Craig Stowers	Mild R	None	No	None	No	None	None	None	R
Alaska	Susan Carney	Indeterminate	None	No	<	No	None	D	None	Independent
Alaska	Peter Maassen	Indeterminate	None	No	<	No	None	D	None	R
Arizona	Bill Montgomery	Strong R	None	No	<	R	R	R	None	R
Arizona	Clint Bolick	Mild R	None	No	R	No	Independent	>	None	R
Arizona	Ann Timmer	Indeterminate	None	No	<	No	None	D	None	R
Arizona	Robert Brutinel	Mild R	None	No	<	No	R	R	None	R
Arizona	Andrew Gould	Mild R	None	No	none	no	R	none	none	R
Arizona	John Lopez IV	Strong R	None	No	R	R	R	>	None	R
Arizona	James Beene	Mild R	None	No	<	No	R	R	None	R
Arkansas	Courtney Hudson Goodson	Mild R	None	No	<	No	None	R	Both	Elected
Arkansas	Josephine Hart	Indeterminate	None	No	None	No	None	None	None	Elected
Arkansas	Dan Kemp	Mild R	None	No	<	No	None	R	Both	Elected
Arkansas	Shawn Womack	Strong R	None	No	R	R	R	>	R	Elected
Arkansas	Robin Wynne	Indeterminate	None	No	<	Yes	None	D	Nonpartisan	Elected
Arkansas	Rhonda Wood	Mild R	None	No	R	No	None	>	R	Elected
Arkansas	Karen Baker	Indeterminate	None	No	<	No	None	Both	R	Elected
California	Carol Corrigan	Indeterminate	None	No	None	No	None	None	Both	R
California	Goodwin Liu	Strong D	None	No	D	D	D	>	None	D
California	Ming Chin	Indeterminate	None	No	<	No	None	D	None	R
California	Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye	Indeterminate	None	No	<	no	R	D	none	R
California	Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar	Strong D	None	No	D	D	D	>	None	D
California	Leondra Kruger	Mild D	None	No	None	No	None	None	None	D
California	Joshua Groban	Strong D	None	D	<	D	D	D	No	D
Colorado	Nathan Coats	Mild R	None	No	<	No	None	R	None	R
Colorado	William Hood	Strong D	None	D	D	No	None	>	None	D
Colorado	Brian Boatright	Indeterminate	None	No	<	No	R	R	None	D
Colorado	Monica Marquez	Strong D	None	No	<	D	D	D	None	D
Colorado	Carlos Armando Samour Jr.	Indeterminate	None	No	<	No	R	D	None	D
Colorado	Richard Gabriel	Mild D	D	No	<	No	>	D	None	D
Colorado	Melissa Hart	Mild D	None	No	D	No	D	>	None	D
Connecticut	Christine Vertefeuille	Indeterminate	None	No	None	No	N/A	None	None	R
Connecticut	Richard Robinson	Indeterminate	None	No	<	No	N/A	R	None	D
Connecticut	Steven Ecker	Mild D	None	No	No	No	N/A	Both	None	D
Connecticut	Raheem Mullins	Mild D	None	No	None	No	N/A	None	None	D
Connecticut	Maria Kahn	Mild D	None	None	<	No	N/A	D	None	D
Connecticut	Andrew J. McDonald	Strong D	None	No	<	D	D	D	None	D
Connecticut	Gregory D’Auria	Mild D	None	No	None	D	D	None	None	D
Connecticut	Vacant
Delaware	"Tamika Montgomery-
Reeves"	Mild D	D	No	None	No	>	D	None	D
Delaware	Karen Valihura	Indeterminate	R	No	<	No	>	R	None	D
Delaware	Gary Traynor	Mild D	R	No	D	No	>	>	None	D
Delaware	James T. Vaughn	Strong D	D	No	D	No	>	>	None	D
Delaware	Collins Seitz	Strong D	D	No	D	No	>	>	None	D
Florida	Renatha Francis	Mild R	None	No	None	No	N/A	None	None	R
Florida	John Couriel	Strong R	None	No	R	No	R	>	R	R
Florida	Carlos Muniz	Strong R	None	No	<	R	R	R	None	R
Florida	Jorge Labarga	Mild R	None	No	None	No	R	None	None	R
Florida	Ricky Polston	Mild R	None	No	<	No	None	R	None	R
Florida	Charles T. Canady	Mild R	None	No	None	R	R	None	None	R
Florida	C. Alan Lawson	Mild R	None	No	None	No	None	None	None	R
Georgia	Carla McMillin	Mild R	None	No	<	No	N/A	R	None	R
Georgia	Charlie Bethel	Strong R	None	No	R	R	R	>	R	R
Georgia	Sarah Warren	Strong R	None	No	R	R	R	>	Nonpartisan	R
Georgia	John Ellington	Indeterminate	None	No	D	No	N/A	>	Nonpartisan	None
Georgia	Nels Peterson	Strong R	None	No	<	R	N/A	R	R	R
Georgia	David Nahmias	Mild R	None	No	Nonpartisan	No	None	Nonpartisan	Nonpartisan	R
Georgia	Michael P. Boggs	Indeterminate	None	No	Both	D	D	Both	Nonpartisan	R
Georgia	Harold Melton	Mild R	None	No	None	R	R	None	Nonpartisan	R
Georgia	Keith Blackwell	Mild R	None	No	R	No	None	>	None	R
Hawaii	Sabrina McKenna	Mild D	None	No	None	No	N/A	None	None	D
Hawaii	Richard Pollack	Mild D	None	No	None	No	N/A	None	None	D
Hawaii	Paula Nakayama	Mild D	None	No	None	No	N/A	None	None	D
Hawaii	Michael Wilson	Mild D	None	No	None	No	N/A	None	None	D
Hawaii	Mark Recktenwald	Strong R	None	R	R	R	R	>	None	R
Idaho	Robyn Brody	Mild R	None	No	<	No	N/A	R	Both	None
Idaho	Roger Burdick	Mild R	None	No	None	No	R	None	R	R
Idaho	John Stegner	Strong R	None	R	<	No	R	R	None	R
Idaho	Gregory Moeller	Mild R	None	No	<	No	N/A	R	None	R
Idaho	G Richard Bevan	Mild R	None	No	None	No	R	None	None	R
Illinois	Rita Garman	Mild R	R	No	R	No	>	>	R	None
Illinois	Mary Jane Theis	Strong D	D	No	D	No	>	>	None	None
Illinois	Thomas Kilbride	Mild D	D	No	D	No	>	>	D	None
Illinois	P. Scott Neville	Strong D	D	No	D	No	>	>	D	D
Illinois	Anne M. Burke	Strong D	D	D	D	No	>	>	D	D
Illinois	Michael J. Burke	Mild R	R	No	R	No	>	>	None	None
Illinois	Lloyd Karmeier	Mild R	R	No	<	No	>	R	R	--
Indiana	Christopher Goff	Mild R	None	No	<	No	R	Both	None	R
Indiana	Steven David	Mild R	None	No	<	No	None	R	None	R
Indiana	Geoffrey Slaughter	Mild R	None	No	R	D	R	>	None	R
Indiana	Loretta Rush	Mild R	None	No	<	No	N/A	R	None	R
Indiana	Mark Massa	Strong R	None	None	R	R	R	>	None	R
Iowa	Matthew McDermott	Strong R	None	No	R	R	R	>	None	R
Iowa	Edward Mansfield	Indeterminate	None	No	D	No	N/A	>	None	R
Iowa	Thomas Waterman	Mild R	None	No	<	No	None	R	None	R
Iowa	Brent Appel	Strong D	None	No	D	D	D	>	None	D
Iowa	Christopher McDonald	Mild R	None	No	<	No	R	R	None	R
Iowa	Susan Christensen	Mild R	None	No	<	No	R	Both	None	R
Iowa	Dana Oxley	Mild R	None	No	None	No	None	None	None	R
Kansas	Evelyn Wilson	Mild D	None	No	<	No	None	D	None	D
Kansas	Marla Luckert	Mild R	None	No	None	No	None	None	None	R
Kansas	Daniel Biles	Mild D	None	No	<	No	None	D	None	D
Kansas	Carol Beier	Mild D	None	No	<	No	D	D	None	D
Kansas	Caleb Stegall	Strong R	None	No	<	R	R	R	None	R
Kansas	Eric Rosen	Mild D	None	No	None	No	D	None	None	D
Kansas	Vacant
Kentucky	Christopher Nickell	Mild D	None	No	<	No	R	D	D	Elected
Kentucky	Debra Hambree Lambert	Mild R	None	No	<	No	N/A	R	R	Elected
Kentucky	Samuel T. Wright III	Indeterminate	None	No	<	No	N/A	R	Nonpartisan	Elected
Kentucky	Laurence Vanmeter	Mild R	None	No	<	No	N/A	R	None	Elected
Kentucky	John Minton	Indeterminate	None	No	None	No	N/A	None	Nonpartisan	R
Kentucky	Lisabeth Tabor Hughes	Indeterminate	None	No	None	No	N/A	None	D	R
Kentucky	Michelle Keller	Mild D	None	No	<	No	N/A	D	D	D
Louisiana	Scott Crichten	Mild R	R	No	<	No	>	R	Both	Elected
Louisiana	Jefferson Hughes	Mild R	R	No	<	No	>	R	Both	Elected
Louisiana	Marcus Clark	Indeterminate	R	No	N/A	No	>	N/A	Both	Elected
Louisiana	Bernette Johnson	Mild D	D	No	N/A	D	>	N/A	Both	Elected
Louisiana	James Genovese	Mild R	R	No	R	No	>	>	Both	Elected
Louisiana	John L. Weimer	Mild D	D	No	D	No	>	>	Both	Elected
Louisiana	William J. Crane	Strong R	R	No	<	No	>	R	R	--
Maine	Catherine Connors	Indeterminate	None	No	R	R	N/A	>	None	D
Maine	Andrew Horton	Mild D	None	No	<	No	N/A	D	None	D
Maine	Ellen Gorman	Mild D	None	No	N/A	No	N/A	N/A	None	D
Maine	Andrew Mead	Mild D	None	No	N/A	No	N/A	N/A	None	D
Maine	Joseph Jabar	Strong D	<	No	D	D	D	>	None	D
Maine	Thomas Humphrey	Indeterminate	None	No	N/A	No	N/A	N/A	None	R
Maine	Vacant
Maryland	Brynja McDivitt Booth	Indeterminate	None	No	N/A	No	N/A	N/A	None	R
Maryland	Mary Ellen Barbara	Mild D	None	No	<	D	N/A	D	None	D
Maryland	Robert McDonald	Mild D	None	No	N/A	D	N/A	N/A	None	D
Maryland	Jonathan Biran	Indeterminate	None	No	D	No	N/A	>	None	R
Maryland	Shirley Marie Watts	Mild D	None	No	N/A	No	N/A	N/A	None	D
Maryland	Michelle D. Hotten	Indeterminate	None	No	<	No	N/A	D	None	R
Maryland	Joseph Getty	Strong R	None	No	R	R	R	>	R	R
Massachusetts	Barbara Lenk	Mild D	None	No	<	No	N/A	D	None	D
Massachusetts	Ralph Gants	Mild D	None	No	<	No	N/A	D	None	D
Massachusetts	Elspeth Cypher	Mild R	None	No	<	No	N/A	R	None	R
Massachusetts	David Lowy	Mild R	N/A	No	None	R	N/A	None	None	R
Massachusetts	Frank Gaziano	Indeterminate	None	No	<	No	N/A	D	None	R
Massachusetts	Scott Kafker	Mild R	None	No	R	R	N/A	>	None	R
Massachusetts	Kimberly S. Budd	Indeterminate	None	No	D	No	N/A	>	None	R
Michigan	Megan Cavanaugh	Mild D	None	No	<	No	D	D	D	None
Michigan	Elizabeth Clement	Strong R	None	No	None	R	R	None	R	R
Michigan	Brian Zahra	Strong R	None	No	R	No	R	>	R	R
Michigan	David Viviano	Strong R	None	No	<	No	R	R	R	R
Michigan	Richard Bernstein	Strong D	None	D	D	No	D	>	D	None
Michigan	Bridget Mary McCormack	Mild D	None	No	D	No	D	>	D	None
Michigan	Stephen Markman	Strong R	None	No	<	R	R	R	R	R
Minnesota	Lorie Gildea	Mild R	None	No	<	No	N/A	R	Nonpartisan	R
Minnesota	Anne McKeig	Indeterminate	None	No	None	No	N/A	None	Nonpartisan	R
Minnesota	Margaret Chutich	Mild D	None	No	D	D	N/A	>	None	D
Minnesota	Barry Anderson	Mild R	None	No	<	No	R	R	Nonpartisan	R
Minnesota	Natalie Hudson	Mild D	None	No	None	D	N/A	None	None	D
Minnesota	Paul Thissen	Strong D	None	No	D	D	D	>	None	D
Minnesota	David Lillehaug	Strong D	None	D	D	No	D	>	None	D
Mississippi	T. Kenneth Griffis	Strong R	None	No	R	No	N/A	>	R	R
Mississippi	Mike Randolph	Mild R	None	No	R	No	R	>	Nonpartisan	R
Mississippi	Josiah Coleman	Mild R	None	No	None	No	N/A	None	None	Elected
Mississippi	Leslie King	Mild D	None	No	<	D	D	D	None	R
Mississippi	Jimmy Maxwell	Mild R	None	No	No	No	N/A	None	None	R
Mississippi	Dawn H. Beam	Mild R	None	No	None	No	N/A	None	None	R
Mississippi	Jim Kitchens	Mild D	No	No	D	No	N/A	>	D	Elected
Mississippi	David Ishee	Mild R	None	No	None	No	N/A	None	None	R
Mississippi	Robert Chamberlin	Strong R	None	No	<	R	R	R	Nonpartisan	R
Missouri	Patricia Breckenridge	Mild R	None	No	<	No	R	R	None	R
Missouri	George Draper	Indeterminate	None	No	No	No	N/A	None	None	D
Missouri	Zel Fischer	Mild R	None	No	<	No	R	R	None	R
Missouri	Mary Rhodes Russell	Mild D	None	No	None	No	N/A	None	None	D
Missouri	Laura Denvir Stith	Mild D	None	No	<	No	N/A	D	None	D
Missouri	Paul C. Wilson	Mild D	None	No	None	D	N/A	None	None	D
Missouri	Wesley Brent Powell	Mild R	None	No	No	R	N/A	R	None	R
Montana	Ingrid Gustafson	Indeterminate	Nonpartisan	No	<	No	N/A	D	None	R
Montana	Laurie McKinnon	Indeterminate	None	No	None	No	N/A	None	R	Elected
Montana	Jim Shea	Mild D	None	No	<	No	N/A	D	None	D
Montana	James Rice	Strong R	Nonpartisan	No	R	R	R	>	R	R
Montana	Beth Baker	Mild D	No	No	<	No	N/A	D	D	Elec
Montana	Mike McGrath	Mild D	None	No	D	No	D	>	D	Elected
Montana	Dirk M. Sandefur	Indeterminate	None	No	<	No	N/A	R	D	Elected
Nebraska	Lindsey Miller-Lerman	Mild D	D	No	D	No	>	>	None	D
Nebraska	John Freudenberg	Strong R	R	No	None	R	>	None	None	R
Nebraska	Jeffrey Funke	Mild R	R	No	None	No	>	None	None	R
Nebraska	William Cassel	Mild R	N/A	No	<	No	R	R	None	R
Nebraska	Stephanie Stacy	Mild R	R	No	<	No	>	R	None	R
Nebraska	Michael Heavican	Strong R	R	No	R	R	>	>	None	R
Nebraska	Jonathan Papik	Mild R	R	No	None	No	>	None	None	R
Nevada	Abbi Silver	Indeterminate	R	No	<	No	>	D	None	None
Nevada	James Hardesty	Mild D	D	No	D	No	>	>	D	None
Nevada	Kris Pickering	Mild R	R	No	R	No	>	>	R	None
Nevada	Mark W. Gibbons	Mild R	R	No	<	No	>	R	None	None
Nevada	Ron Parraguirre	Mild R	R	No	<	R	>	R	None	None
Nevada	Elissa Cadish	Strong D	D	No	<	No	>	D	D	None
Nevada	Lidia Stiglich	Indeterminate	D	No	D	R	>	>	D	R
New Hampshire	Patrick Donovan	Strong R	Nonpartisan	R	R	No	None	>	None	R
New Hampshire	Anna Barbara Hantz Marconi	Mild R	Nonpartisan	No	R	No	None	>	None	R
New Hampshire	James Bassett	Indeterminate	Nonpartisan	No	R	No	R	>	None	D
New Hampshire	Gary Hicks	Mild D	Nonpartisan	No	D	No	D	>	None	D
New Hampshire	Vacant
New Jersey	Lee A. Solomon	Mild R	Nonpartisan	No	R	R	None	>	None	R
New Jersey	Stuart Rabner	Mild D	Nonpartisan	No	<	D	D	D	None	D
New Jersey	Anne Patterson	Mild R	Nonpartisan	No	R	No	None	>	None	R
New Jersey	Jaynee LaVecchia	Mild R	Nonpartisan	No	<	R	None	R	None	R
New Jersey	Barry T. Albin	Mild D	Nonpartisan	No	D	No	D	>	None	D
New Jersey	Walter F. Timpone	Indeterminate	Nonpartisan	No	D	No	D	>	None	R
New Jersey	Faustino J. Fernandez-Vina	Mild R	Nonpartisan	No	None	No	R	None	None	R
New Mexico	Michael Vigil	Strong D	D	No	D	No	>	>	D	None
New Mexico	Barbara J. Vigil	Mild D	D	No	None	No	>	None	D	None
New Mexico	Judith Nakamura	Mild R	R	No	<	No	>	R	R	R
New Mexico	Shannon Bacon	Mild D	D	No	<	No	>	D	None	D
New Mexico	David K. Thomson	Strong D	D	No	D	D	>	>	None	D
New York	Michael Garcia	Mild R	Nonpartisan	No	R	R	R	>	None	D
New York	Rowan Wilson	Mild D	Nonpartisan	No	D	No	D	>	None	D
New York	Paul G. Feinman	Mild D	Nonpartisan	No	None	No	D	None	None	D
New York	Jenny Rivera	Mild D	Nonpartisan	No	<	No	None	D	None	D
New York	Leslie E. Stein	Mild D	Nonpartisan	No	None	No	D	None	None	D
New York	Janet DiFiore	Mild D	Nonpartisan	No	<	No	D	D	None	D
New York	Eugene Fahey	Mild D	Nonpartisan	No	<	No	D	D	None	D
North Carolina	Mark Davis	Strong D	D	No	D	D	>	>	D	D
North Carolina	Cheri Beasley	Strong D	D	No	<	No	>	D	D	D
North Carolina	Anita Earls	Strong D	D	No	D	D	>	>	D	None
North Carolina	Michael Morgan	Strong D	D	No	<	D	>	D	D	None
North Carolina	Paul Martin Newby	Mild R	R	No	<	No	>	R	R	None
North Carolina	Sam Ervin	Strong D	D	No	<	D	>	D	D	None
North Carolina	Robin Hudson	Strong D	D	No	D	No	>	>	D	None
North Dakota	Lisa Fair McEvers	Mild R	N/A	No	<	No	R	R	None	R
North Dakota	Jerod Tufte	Strong R	N/A	No	R	R	R	>	R	None
North Dakota	Jon Jay Jensen	Mild R	N/A	No	None	No	N/A	None	None	R
North Dakota	Daniel Crothers	Mild R	N/A	No	<	No	N/A	R	None	R
North Dakota	Gerald VandeWalle	Indeterminate	N/A	No	None	R	N/A	None	None	D
Ohio	Melody Stewart	Mild D	D	No	<	No	>	D	D	None
Ohio	Pat DeWine	Strong R	R	No	R	R	>	>	R	None
Ohio	Pat Fischer	Strong R	R	No	<	No	>	R	R	None
Ohio	Maureen O’Connor	Strong R	R	No	<	R	>	R	R	None
Ohio	Sharon L. Kennedy	Strong R	R	No	R	No	>	>	R	None
Ohio	Michael P. Donnelly	Mild D	D	No	<	No	>	D	D	None
Ohio	Judith French	Strong R	R	No	<	R	>	R	Both	None
Oklahoma	Scott Rowland	Mild R	R	No	<	No	>	D	None	R
Oklahoma	Gary Lumpkin	Mild R	R	No	None	No	>	None	None	R
Oklahoma	David B. Lewis	Indeterminate	R	No	None	No	>	None	None	D
Oklahoma	Rob Hudson	Mild R	R	No	None	No	>	D	None	R
Oklahoma	Dana Kuehn	Mild R	R	No	None	No	>	None	None	R
Oklahoma	Tom Colbert	Mild D	D	No	None	No	>	None	None	D
Oklahoma	Yvonne Kauger	Mild D	D	No	None	No	>	None	None	D
Oklahoma	"M. John
Kane IV"	Mild R	R	No	None	No	>	None	None	R
Oklahoma	James Edmondson	Mild D	D	No	<	No	>	D	None	D
Oklahoma	James R. Winchester	Mild R	R	No	None	No	>	None	None	R
Oklahoma	Noma D. Gurich	Indeterminate	Nonpartisan	No	None	No	None	None	None	D
Oklahoma	Douglas L. Combs	Strong D	D	No	<	D	>	D	None	D
Oklahoma	Richard Darby	Mild R	R	No	None	No	>	None	None	R
Oklahoma	Dustin P. Rowe	Strong R	R	No	R	R	>	>	None	R
Oregon	Martha Walters	Mild D	D	No	<	No	>	D	None	D
Oregon	Chris Garrett	Strong D	D	No	D	D	>	>	D	D
Oregon	Lynn Nakamoto	Strong D	D	No	<	No	>	D	None	D
Oregon	Thomas Balmer	Strong D	D	No	D	D	None	>	Nonpartisan	D
Oregon	Meagan A. Flynn	Mild D	Nonpartisan	No	None	No	None	None	None	D
Oregon	Adrienne Nelson	Mild D	Nonpartisan	No	None	No	None	None	None	D
Oregon	Rebecca Duncan	Mild D	Nonpartisan	No	None	No	None	None	None	D
Pennsylvania	Christine Donohue	Strong D	D	No	D	No	>	>	D	None
Pennsylvania	David N. Wecht	Strong D	D	No	D	No	>	>	D	None
Pennsylvania	Kevin M. Dougherty	Strong D	D	No	D	No	>	>	D	None
Pennsylvania	Max Baer	Mild D	D	No	None	No	>	None	D	None
Pennsylvania	Debra Todd	Strong D	D	No	D	No	>	>	D	None
Pennsylvania	Sallie Mundy	Mild R	R	No	None	No	>	None	R	D
Pennsylvania	Thomas Saylor	Mild R	R	No	<	No	>	R	R	None
Rhode Island	Paul Suttell	Mild R	Nonpartisan	No	None	R	R	None	None	R
Rhode Island	William Robinson	Mild R	Nonpartisan	No	<	No	None	R	None	R
Rhode Island	Francis Flaherty	Mild D	Nonpartisan	No	D	D	D	>	None	R
Rhode Island	Gilbert V. Indeglia	Mild R	Nonpartisan	No	None	R	R	None	None	R
Rhode Island	Maureen McKenna Goldberg	Indeterminate	Nonpartisan	No	None	No	None	None	None	R
South Carolina	George C. James	Mild R	None	No	<	No	N/A	R	None	R
South Carolina	John C. Few	Mild R	None	No	<	No	N/A	R	None	R
South Carolina	John Kittredge	Mild R	None	No	None	No	N/A	None	None	R
South Carolina	Kaye Hearn	Mild R	None	No	None	No	N/A	None	None	R
South Carolina	Donald Beatty	Indeterminate	None	No	None	D	D	None	None	R
South Dakota	Janine Kern	Mild R	None	No	Nonpartisan	R	N/A	Nonpartisan	None	R
South Dakota	Mark Salter	Mild R	R	No	<	No	>	Both	None	R
South Dakota	David Gilbertson	Mild R	Independent	No	None	None	None	None	None	R
South Dakota	Steven Jensen	Mild R	None	No	None	R	R	None	None	R
South Dakota	Patricia DeVaney	Strong R	R	No	<	R	>	R	None	R
Tennessee	Jeff Bivins	Mild R	None	No	<	No	N/A	R	None	R
Tennessee	Holly Kirby	Mild R	None	No	R	No	N/A	>	None	R
Tennessee	Roger A. Page	Mild R	None	No	<	No	N/A	R	None	R
Tennessee	Cornelia Clark	Mild D	None	No	D	No	N/A	>	None	D
Tennessee	Sharon G. Lee	Mild D	None	No	D	No	N/A	>	None	D
Texas (Court of Criminal Appeals)	Mary Lou Keel	Mild R	R	No	<	No	>	R	R	None
Texas (Court of Criminal Appeals)	Scott Walker	Strong R	R	No	R	No	>	>	R	None
Texas (Court of Criminal Appeals)	Sharon Keller	Mild R	R	No	<	No	>	R	R	None
Texas (Court of Criminal Appeals)	David Newell	Mild R	R	No	<	No	>	R	None	None
Texas (Court of Criminal Appeals)	Bert Richardson	Mild R	R	No	<	No	>	R	None	None
Texas (Court of Criminal Appeals)	Michael Keasler	Mild R	R	No	<	No	>	R	None	None
Texas (Court of Criminal Appeals)	Barbara Hervey	Mild R	R	No	<	No	>	R	R	None
Texas (Court of Criminal Appeals)	Michelle Slaughter	Mild R	R	No	None	No	>	None	R	None
Texas (Court of Criminal Appeals)	Kevin Patrick Yeary	Mild R	R	No	<	No	>	R	No	None
Texas (Supreme Court)	Jane Bland	Strong R	R	No	R	No	>	>	R	R
Texas (Supreme Court)	Nathan Hecht	Strong R	R	No	R	No	>	>	R	None
Texas (Supreme Court)	Jeffrey Boyd	Strong R	R	No	<	R	>	R	R	None
Texas (Supreme Court)	Brett Busby	Strong R	R	No	R	No	>	>	R	None
Texas (Supreme Court)	Paul Green	Strong R	R	No	<	No	>	R	R	None
Texas (Supreme Court)	Eva Guzman	Strong R	R	No	R	No	>	>	R	R
Texas (Supreme Court)	Debra Lehrmann	Strong R	R	No	<	No	>	R	R	R
Texas (Supreme Court)	Jimmy Blacklock	Strong R	R	No	None	R	>	None	R	R
Texas (Supreme Court)	John Devine	Strong R	R	No	R	No	>	>	R	R
Utah	John A. Pearce	Mild R	None	No	<	R	R	D	None	R
Utah	Deno Himonas	Mild R	None	No	None	No	N/A	None	None	R
Utah	Thomas Rex Lee	Mild R	R	No	<	No	>	R	None	R
Utah	Matthew Durrant	Mild R	None	No	None	No	N/A	None	None	R
Utah	Paige Petersen	Indeterminate	None	No	<	No	N/A	D	None	R
Vermont	Paul L. Reiber	Mild R	None	No	<	No	N/A	R	None	R
Vermont	Karen R. Carroll	Indeterminate	None	No	None	No	N/A	None	None	R
Vermont	Beth Robinson	Strong D	None	D	D	D	D	>	None	D
Vermont	Harold Eaton	Indeterminate	None	No	<	No	N/A	R	None	D
Vermont	William Cohen	Mild R	None	No	<	R	R	D	None	R
Virginia	Bill Mims	Mild R	None	No	R	R	R	>	None	None
Virginia	Donald Lemons	Mild R	None	No	None	No	N/A	None	None	R
Virginia	Cleo Powell	Mild D	None	No	None	D	D	None	None	None
Virginia	Teresa Chafin	Mild R	None	No	No	No	N/A	None	No	R
Virginia	S. Bernard Goodwyn	Indeterminate	None	None	N/A	No	N/A	None	No	D
Virginia	Stephen R. McCullough	Strong R	None	None	R	R	R	>	No	R
Virginia	D. Arthur Kelsey	Mild R	None	None	<	No	--	R	No	R
Washington	Sheryl McCloud	Mild D	None	None	D	No	--	>	D	--
Washington	Susan Owens	Indeterminate	None	None	<	No	--	D	None	--
Washington	Steven Gonzalez	Mild D	None	None	N/A	No	--	None	None	D
Washington	G. Helen Whitener	Mild D	None	None	N/A	No	--	None	None	D
Washington	Raquel Montoya-Lewis	Mild D	None	None	<	No	--	D	None	D
Washington	Charles W. Johnson	Mild D	None	None	N/A	No	--	None	D	--
Washington	Debra Stephens	Mild D	None	None	N/A	No	--	None	D	D
Washington	Barbara A. Madsen	Mild D	None	None	N/A	No	--	None	D	--
Washington	Mary Yu	Mild D	None	None	N/A	No	--	None	D	D
West Virginia	Margaret Workman	Strong D	None	D	D	D	D	>	None	--
West Virginia	Tim Armstead	Strong R	None	None	R	R	R	>	None	--
West Virginia	John Hutchinson	Mild R	None	None	<	No	D	R	None	R
West Virginia	Beth Walker	Mild R	None	None	R	No	>	>	None	--
West Virginia	Evan Jenkins	Mild R	None	None	D	R	R	>	R	--
Wisconsin	Brian Hagedorn	Strong R	None	No	<	R	R	R	R	--
Wisconsin	Patience Roggensack	Indeterminate	None	No	<	No	None	D	R	None
Wisconsin	Ann Walsh Bradley	Indeterminate	None	No	No	No	D	Nonpartisan	None	None
Wisconsin	Daniel Kelly	Strong R	None	R	R	No	R	>	R	R
Wisconsin	Rebecca Bradley	Mild R	None	No	<	No	None	R	R	None
Wisconsin	Rebecca Dallet	Mild D	None	No	D	No	None	>	D	None
Wisconsin	Annette Ziegler	Mild R	None	No	<	No	None*	R	R	None
Wyoming	Keith G. Kautz	Mild R	None	No	No	No	None	R	None	R
Wyoming	Michael K. Davis	Mild R	None	No	No	No	None	None	None	R
Wyoming	Kate M. Fox	Mild R	None	No	No	No	None	None	None	R
Wyoming	Lynne Boomgaarden	Mild R	None	No	No	No	None	R	None	R
Wyoming	Kari Gray	Strong R	None	No	R	R	R	>	None	R

Definitions

We use several different terms to describe the relationship between individual justices’ Confidence Scores and the makeup of state supreme courts. Below are brief definitions of the terms we use throughout the study.

• Court Balance Score attempts to show the balance among justices with Democratic, Republican, and Indeterminate Confidence Scores on a court. Courts with higher positive Court Balance Scores are made up of justices with higher Republican Confidence Scores. Courts with lower negative Court Balance Scores are made of justices with higher Democratic Confidence Scores. Courts closest to zero either have justices with conflicting partisanship or have justices with Indeterminate Confidence Scores. The Court Balance Score is calculated by finding the average partisan Confidence Score of all justices on a state supreme court. For example, if a state has justices on the state supreme court with Confidence Scores of 4, -2, 2, 14, -2, 3, and 4, the Court Balance is the average of those scores: 3.3. Therefore, the Confidence Score on the court is Mild Republican.
• Pure Partisanship Score attempts to show our total confidence in partisan affiliations on a court. Courts with a higher Pure Partisanship Score are made up of justices with stronger Confidence Scores overall, regardless of party. Pure Partisanship Score is calculated by finding the average of the absolute values of the Confidence Score assigned to each justice. For example, if a state supreme court has seven justices with Confidence Scores of 4, -2, 2, -14, -2, 3, and 4, the Pure Partisanship Score is the average of the absolute values of those scores: 4.4.
• Aggregate Score is the total partisan Confidence Score of all justices on a state supreme court or selection method. For example, if a state has seven state supreme court justices with Confidence Scores of 4, -2, 2, 14, -2, 3, and 4, the Aggregate Score is the sum of those scores: 23.

About the authors

Samuel Postell is a staff writer on Ballotpedia's Marquee Team and a lecturer at the University of Dallas.

Luke Seeley is a staff writer on Ballotpedia's Marquee Team.

Heidi Jung developed the graphics.

Ballotpedia CEO Leslie Graves, Ballotpedia COO Gwen Beattie, Editor-in-Chief Geoff Pallay, and Ballotpedia Vice President of external relations Alison Prange reviewed the report and provided feedback as did editor Cory Eucalitto. Outside reviewers included Dr. G. Alan Tarr from Rutgers University, and Dr. Aman McLeod from the University of Idaho College of Law.