Kansas election recap, 2012

December 6, 2012

Kansas: Judicial elections in Kansas continued much of the status quo, with the only new judges added to the state’s courts being at the district level. The state’s Supreme Court and Court of Appeals both retained all those judges up for vote. Across the state’s 31 district courts, no incumbents were defeated, and only ten new judges will be sworn in come January.

The Kansas Supreme Court had only one judge on the ballot: Nancy Moritz. Caplinger-Moritz was retained to her seat with 71% of the vote.

Five judges faced retention votes on the Kansas Court of Appeals: David E. Bruns, G. Gordon Atcheson, Joseph Pierron, Karen Arnold-Burger and Steve Leben. All five survived their retention votes, all with vote percentages between 71 and 75%.

Kansas’ district court elections are split between retention votes and partisan elections, with judges in 13 of the state’s 31 districts facing partisan votes. This year’s elections were not kind to challengers, with every single challenger being defeated by the incumbent. In total, the district courts will welcome ten new judges. Seven of the new judges are at the magistrate level, with the remaining three at the district judge level.

For more information on this year's judicial elections in Kansas, see: Kansas judicial elections, 2012.