California Supreme Court justice vacancy (October 2025)
| California Supreme Court |
|---|
 |
| Jenkins vacancy |
| Date: October 31, 2025 |
| Status: Retirement scheduled |
| Nomination |
| Nominee: To be determined |
| Date: To be determined |
California Supreme Court Justice Martin J. Jenkins is retiring on October 31, 2025. Jenkins' replacement will be Governor Newsom's (D) fifth nominee to the seven-member supreme court.
In California, state supreme court justices are selected through direct gubernatorial appointment. Justices are appointed directly by the governor without the use of a nominating commission.[1] There are five states that use this selection method. To read more about the gubernatorial appointment of judges, click here.
Vacancies are filled by gubernatorial appointment. Appointed judges are required to participate in yes-no retention elections occurring at the time of the next gubernatorial race, which is held every four years.[2]
Ballotpedia has compiled the following resources on the process to fill the California Supreme Court vacancy:
- An overview of the selection process.
- An overview of the court following the vacancy.
- An overview of the justice who left office.
- A list of other state supreme court appointments in 2025.
Appointee candidates and nominations
Ballotpedia will post information on candidates and prospective appointees as information becomes available. If you know of information that should be included here, please email us.
The selection process
- See also: Judicial selection in California
In California, state supreme court justices are selected through direct gubernatorial appointment. Justices are appointed directly by the governor without the use of a nominating commission.[3] There are five states that use this selection method. To read more about the gubernatorial appointment of judges, click here.
Makeup of the court
- See also: California Supreme Court
Justices
Following Jenkins' retirement, the California Supreme Court included the following members:
| ■ Carol Corrigan | Appointed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) in 2005 | |
| ■ Goodwin Liu | Appointed by Gov. Jerry Brown (D) in 2011 | |
| ■ Leondra Kruger | Appointed by Gov. Jerry Brown (D) in 2014 | |
| ■ Joshua Groban | Appointed by Gov. Jerry Brown (D) in 2018 | |
| ■ Patricia Guerrero | Appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) in 2022 | |
| ■ Kelli M. Evans | Appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) in 2023 |
About the court
Founded in 1849, the California Supreme Court is the state's court of last resort and has seven judgeships. The current chief of the court is Patricia Guerrero.
As of January 2023, six judges on the court were appointed by Democratic governors and one judge was appointed by a Republican governor.
The California Supreme Court holds regular sessions in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Sacramento.[4]
In California, state supreme court justices are selected through direct gubernatorial appointment. Justices are appointed directly by the governor without the use of a nominating commission.[5] There are five states that use this selection method. To read more about the gubernatorial appointment of judges, click here.
About Justice Jenkins
- See also: Martin J. Jenkins
Jenkins was born in 1953 in San Francisco, California. He received a bachelor's degree from Santa Clara University in 1977 and a law degree from the University of San Francisco in 1980.[6] Between his degrees, Jenkins played two non-regular season games with the Seattle Seahawks in the professional football league.[6]
Jenkins began his legal career as a law clerk with the Alameda County district attorney's office before becoming a deputy district attorney in 1981.[7] He worked as a trial attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division from 1983 to 1985 before joining the Pacific Bell legal department as a civil litigator.[7]
Gov. George Deukmejian (R) appointed Jenkins to the Oakland Municipal Court in 1989.[8] In 1992, Gov. Pete Wilson (R) elevated Jenkins to the Superior Court of Alameda County, where he served until 1997 when President Bill Clinton (D) appointed him to the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.[8] In 2008, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) appointed Jenkins to the third division of the California First District Court of Appeal.[6] In 2019, Jenkins became California's judicial appointments secretary following his appointment by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D).[9]
Other state supreme court appointments in 2025
- See also: State supreme court vacancies, 2025
The following table lists vacancies on state supreme courts that opened in 2025. Click the link under the Court column for a particular vacancy for more information on that vacancy.
Click here for vacancies that opened in 2024.
| 2025 State Supreme Court Vacancies |
|---|
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Note: In New Hampshire, a judicial selection commission has been established by executive order. The commission's recommendations are not binding.
- ↑ California Courts, "Judicial Selection: How California Chooses Its Judges and Justices," accessed March 27, 2023
- ↑ Note: In New Hampshire, a judicial selection commission has been established by executive order. The commission's recommendations are not binding.
- ↑ Courts Newsroom, "California Supreme Court," accessed August 17, 2021
- ↑ Note: In New Hampshire, a judicial selection commission has been established by executive order. The commission's recommendations are not binding.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Metropolitan News, "Commission Confirms Judge Martin Jenkins as Court of Appeal Justice," April 7, 2008
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Court Listener, "Martin J. Jenkins (N.D. California)," accessed June 17, 2021
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedofficialbio - ↑ Office of Governor Gavin Newsom, "Governor Newsom Selects Justice Martin Jenkins (Ret.) for California Supreme Court," Oct. 5, 2020
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Federal courts:
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Central District of California, Eastern District of California, Northern District of California, Southern District of California • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Central District of California, Eastern District of California, Northern District of California, Southern District of California
State courts:
California Supreme Court • California Courts of Appeal • California Superior Courts
State resources:
Courts in California • California judicial elections • Judicial selection in California
| |||||||
