Bill Montgomery
2019 - Present
2029
6
Bill Montgomery is a judge of the Arizona Supreme Court. He assumed office on September 9, 2019. His current term ends on January 1, 2029.
Montgomery ran for re-election for judge of the Arizona Supreme Court. He won in the retention election on November 8, 2022.
Montgomery first became a member of the Arizona Supreme Court by appointment. Gov. Doug Ducey (R) appointed Montgomery in September 2019 to succeed retired Chief Justice Scott Bales.[1] To learn more about this vacancy, click here.
In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship, a study examining the partisan affiliation of all state supreme court justices in the country. As part of this study, we assigned each justice a Confidence Score describing our confidence in the degree of partisanship exhibited by the justices' past partisan behavior, before they joined the court.[2] Montgomery received a confidence score of Strong Republican.[3] Click here to read more about this study.
Montgomery was the Republican county attorney of Maricopa County, Arizona, from 2010 to 2019.
Biography
Montgomery graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1989. He obtained a J.D., magna cum laude and Order of the Coif, from Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor School of Law. Montgomery served in the U.S. Army before beginning his legal career.[4]
Montgomery served two stints as deputy county attorney for Maricopa County and worked in private practice. In 2010, he was elected Maricopa County attorney as a Republican. He served in that position until September 2019, when he assumed a seat on the state supreme court.[4]
Montgomery received several awards for work on children's issues. As of June 2021, he was a member of the Federalist Society.[4]
Elections
2022
See also: Arizona Supreme Court elections, 2022
Arizona Supreme Court, Bill Montgomery's seat
Bill Montgomery was retained to the Arizona Supreme Court on November 8, 2022 with 55.5% of the vote.
Retention Vote |
% |
Votes |
|||
| ✔ | Yes |
55.5
|
1,042,134 | ||
No |
44.5
|
834,653 | |||
Total Votes |
1,876,787 | ||||
|
|
2016
Maricopa County held elections for the county board of supervisors, county assessor, county attorney, county recorder, sheriff, county treasurer, and special districts in 2016. The general election was held on November 8, 2016. A primary election was held on August 30, 2016. The filing deadline for those wishing to run in this election was June 1, 2016.[5] Incumbent Bill Montgomery defeated Diego Rodriguez in the Maricopa County attorney general election.[6]
| Maricopa County Attorney, General Election, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican |  Bill Montgomery Incumbent |
52.70% | 748,186 | |
| Democratic | Diego Rodriguez | 47.30% | 671,618 | |
| Total Votes | 1,419,804 | |||
| Source: Maricopa County, "November 8, 2016, Summary Report, Final Official Results," accessed June 16, 2021 | ||||
Appointments
2019
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey appointed Bill Montgomery (R) to the Arizona Supreme Court on September 4, 2019.[7] Montgomery replaced former Chief Justice Scott Bales, who retired on July 31, 2019.[8] After leaving office, Bales became executive director of the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System at the University of Denver.[9] Montgomery was Ducey's fifth appointment on the seven-member court.
Eleven individuals applied to fill the vacancy. The list of applicants includes five judges from the Arizona Court of Appeals, two judges from county superior courts, a public defender, a county attorney, and two private attorneys. There were seven Republican, two Democratic, one Libertarian, and one independent applicant. To see a full list of applicants, click here.
In a press release about his peer's retirement, Vice Chief Justice Robert Brutinel said, "Chief Justice Bales' commitment to the rule of law and the improvement of our courts have made Arizona’s courts more accessible, efficient and fair."[8]
Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Bill Montgomery did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
Analysis
Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship (2020)
Last updated: June 15, 2020
In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship, a study examining the partisan affiliation of all state supreme court justices in the country as of June 15, 2020.
The study presented Confidence Scores that represented our confidence in each justice's degree of partisan affiliation. This was not a measure of where a justice fell on an ideological spectrum, but rather a measure of how much confidence we had that a justice was or had been affiliated with a political party. The scores were based on seven factors, including but not limited to party registration.[10]
The five resulting categories of Confidence Scores were:
- Strong Democrat
- Mild Democrat
- Indeterminate[11]
- Mild Republican
- Strong Republican
This justice's Confidence Score, as well as the factors contributing to that score, is presented below. The information below was current as of June 2020.
Bill
Montgomery
Arizona
- Partisan Confidence Score:
Strong Republican - Judicial Selection Method:
Assisted appointment through governor controlled judicial nominating commission - Key Factors:
- Held political office as a Republican
- Was a registered Republican before 2020
- Donated less than $2,000 to Republican candidates
Partisan Profile
Details:
Montgomery was a registered Republican while he served as the County Attorney for Maricopa County. He donated $1,260 to Republican individuals and organizations. He was appointed to the court by Gov. Doug Ducey (R). At the time of his appointment, Arizona was a Republican trifecta. Arizona Supreme Court Justice Clint Bolick endorsed Montgomery.
State supreme court judicial selection in Arizona
- See also: Judicial selection in Arizona
The seven justices on the Arizona Supreme Court are each appointed by the governor from a list of names compiled by the Arizona Commission on Appellate Court Appointments. The commission is composed of 16 members who serve staggered four-year terms. The membership includes 10 non-attorneys, five attorneys, and the chief justice of the supreme court, who chairs the commission.[12]
The initial term of a new justice is at least two years, after which the justice stands for retention in an uncontested yes-no election. Subsequent terms last six years.[13] For more information on these retention elections, visit the Arizona judicial elections page.
Qualifications
To serve on this court, a justice:[14]
| “ |
|
” |
Chief justice
The court's chief justice is selected by peer vote. He or she serves in that capacity for five years.[16]
Vacancies
If a midterm vacancy occurs on the court, the seat is filled as it normally would be if the vacancy occurred at the end of a justice's term. Potential justices submit applications to the Arizona Commission on Appellate Court Appointments, and once the commission has chosen a slate of nominees, the governor picks one from that list. After occupying the seat for two years, the newly appointed justice stands for retention in the next general election. The justice then serves a full six-year term if he or she is retained by voters.[17]
The map below highlights how vacancies are filled in state supreme courts across the country.
See also
2022 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Signals AZ, "Governor Ducey Appoints Bill Montgomery To The Supreme Court of Arizona," September 8, 2019
- ↑ We calculated confidence scores by collecting several data points such as party registration, donations, and previous political campaigns.
- ↑ The five possible confidence scores were: Strong Democrat, Mild Democrat, Indeterminate, Mild Republican, and Strong Republican.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Arizona Judicial Branch, "Justice William G. Montgomery," accessed June 16, 2021
- ↑ Arizona Secretary of State, "Elections Calendar & Upcoming Events," accessed September 2, 2016
- ↑ Maricopa County, "November 8, 2016, Summary Report, Final Official Results," accessed June 16, 2021
- ↑ The Wichita Eagle, "Ducey appoints Montgomery to Arizona Supreme Court," September 4, 2019
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Arizona Supreme Court, "Chief Justice Scott Bales Announces Retirement," March 5, 2019
- ↑ KTAR, "Retiring Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice Bales to lead research center," March 8, 2019
- ↑ The seven factors were party registration, donations made to partisan candidates, donations made to political parties, donations received from political parties or bodies with clear political affiliation, participation in political campaigns, the partisanship of the body responsible for appointing the justice, and state trifecta status when the justice joined the court.
- ↑ An Indeterminate score indicates that there is either not enough information about the justice’s partisan affiliations or that our research found conflicting partisan affiliations.
- ↑ Arizona Judicial Branch, "Article 6, Section 36: Commission on appellate court appointments and terms, appointments and vacancies on commission," accessed March 24, 2023
- ↑ Arizona Judicial Branch, "Article 6, Section 37: Judicial vacancies and appointments; initial terms; residence; age," accessed March 24, 2023
- ↑ Arizona Judicial Branch, "AZ Supreme Court," accessed March 24, 2023
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Arizona Judicial Branch, "Meet The Justices," accessed March 24, 2023
- ↑ Brennan Center for Justice, "Judicial Selection: An Interactive Map," accessed March 23, 2023
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