State judicial races are on the ballot in November. Here’s what you need to know

The midterms are not just about Congress. 

While high-profile contests that will determine the balance of power in Washington have dominated news cycles, judicial elections are also happening in half of the country on November 3.  

State Supreme Court races are on the ballot in 24 states, with half of those being retention elections in which voters decide whether an incumbent judge should remain seated for another term. More than 200 seats on appellate court benches and even more at the trial court level are also up, according to Ballotpedia.  

These races often get overshadowed, but their outcomes are influential. 

“Issues that reach the state Supreme Court affect every corner of [people’s] lives,” said American University Professor Thomas Kahn, naming them as among the “most powerful courts in the land” second only to the U.S. Supreme Court.  

Douglas Keith, the deputy director of the Brennan Center for Justice’s Judiciary Program, noted that 95% of all cases each year are filed outside of the federal court system.  

“There may have been cases that the public thought previously would always end up at the U.S. Supreme Court, but now they’re going to go to and end at their state’s highest court and that could be cases about abortion rights or voting rights or environmental law or criminal justice reform,” he said. “All of these things are issues that state high courts have tremendous amount power to interpret and apply.” 

The process for putting a judge on the state Supreme Court bench varies in each state, which is why not every voter sees them on the ballot at the same time — if at all.  

The Brennan Center notes that elections are used as at least part of the judicial selection system in 38 states, through a combination of partisan, nonpartisan and retention elections. The remaining states use gubernatorial or direct legislative appointments, though the exact methods differ.  

Contested races are generally conducted like any other election for political office. And depending on the state, candidates may or may not have a party label attached to their names on the ballot.  

Retention states are different. A justice, usually appointed by the governor, has no opponent and faces a simple yes-or-no vote on whether they should keep their job. And it’s rare for judges to lose them.  

“It’s not unprecedented, but it does not happen often,” Kahn said. 

Partisan contests for state Supreme Courts are concentrated in just a handful of states, only some of which still have races to decide........

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