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Debra Stephens
2008 - Present
2027
17
Debra Stephens is a judge for Position 7 of the Washington Supreme Court. She assumed office on January 1, 2008. Her current term ends on January 10, 2027.
Stephens is running for re-election for the Position 7 judge of the Washington Supreme Court. She declared candidacy for the general election scheduled on November 3, 2026.[source]
Stephens was elected by her peers as Chief Justice of the Washington State Supreme Court from January 2020 to January 2021. Stephens succeeded Mary Fairhurst as chief justice.[1]
Stephens was again appointed Chief Justice of the Washington State Supreme Court on January 13, 2025. Her term concludes on January 13, 2029.[2]
Stephens first became a member of the Washington Supreme Court when she was appointed by Gov. Chris Gregoire (D) in December 2007. She took the bench in January 2008. To read more about judicial selection in Washington, click here.[3]
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.[4] Stephens received a confidence score of Mild Democrat.[5] Click here to read more about this study.
Biography
Stephens received her B.A. from Gonzaga University in 1987 and her J.D. from Gonzaga University School of Law in 1993.[6] After graduating from law school, Stephens served as a staff attorney for Fred Van Sickle from 1993 to 1995. After that, she went into private practice. Stephens was appointed to the Washington Court of Appeals and was later elected to the court in 2007. She joined the Washington Supreme Court on January 1, 2008.[3]
Stephens has also worked as an adjunct professor for the Gonzaga University School of Law.[3]
Elections
2026
See also: Washington Supreme Court elections, 2026
General election
The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.
General election for Washington State Supreme Court Position 7
Incumbent Debra Stephens is running in the general election for Washington State Supreme Court Position 7 on November 3, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | Debra Stephens (Nonpartisan) | |
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Endorsements
Ballotpedia is gathering information about candidate endorsements. To send us an endorsement, click here.
2020
See also: Washington Supreme Court elections, 2020
General election
General election for Washington State Supreme Court Position 7
Incumbent Debra Stephens won election in the general election for Washington State Supreme Court Position 7 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Debra Stephens (Nonpartisan) | 97.9 | 2,852,879 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 2.1 | 60,808 | ||
| Total votes: 2,913,687 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Nonpartisan primary election
The primary election was canceled. Incumbent Debra Stephens advanced from the primary for Washington State Supreme Court Position 7.
2014
- See also: Washington judicial elections, 2014
Stephens ran for re-election to the Washington Supreme Court. She defeated John Scannell in the general election on November 4, 2014, receiving 78.1 percent of the vote.[7]
2008
Stephens ran unopposed for election to a full six-year term on the Washington Supreme Court in November of 2008.[8]
Stephens raised about $107,000 during her 2008 election campaign.[9]
2007
Stephens first became a member of the Washington Supreme Court when she was appointed by Gov. Chris Gregoire (D) in December 2007.[3]
Campaign themes
2020
Debra Stephens did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign finance summary
Campaign finance information for this candidate is not yet available from OpenSecrets. That information will be published here once it is available.
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.
Debra
Stephens
Washington
- Partisan Confidence Score:
Mild Democrat - Judicial Selection Method:
Elected - Key Factors:
- Received donations from Democrat-affiliated individuals or organizations
- Appointed by a Democratic governor
- Endorsed by Democratic-affiliated individuals or organizations
Partisan Profile
Details:
Stephens was nominated by Gov. Christine Gregoire (D) to fill a vacancy on the state supreme court in 2007. She received $3,500 in donations from the Washington Education Association and $1,900 from the Washington State Association for Justice, both of which more frequently donate to Democratic candidates than Republicans. She was endorsed by NARAL Pro-Choice Washington, the Washington Education Association, and the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, all of which more frequently endorse Democratic candidates than Republicans.
Other Scores:
Bonica and Woodruff campaign finance scores (2012)
In October 2012, political science professors Adam Bonica and Michael Woodruff of Stanford University attempted to determine the partisan ideology of state supreme court justices. They created a scoring system in which a score above 0 indicated a more conservative-leaning ideology, while scores below 0 were more liberal.
Stephens received a campaign finance score of -1.4, indicating a liberal ideological leaning. This was more liberal than the average score of -0.91 that justices received in Washington.
The study was based on data from campaign contributions by the judges themselves, the partisan leaning of those who contributed to the judges' campaigns, or, in the absence of elections, the ideology of the appointing body (governor or legislature). This study was not a definitive label of a justice, but an academic summary of various relevant factors.[12]
State supreme court judicial selection in Washington
- See also: Judicial selection in Washington
The nine justices of the supreme court are selected through contested nonpartisan elections and must run for re-election when their terms expire. Supreme court judges serve for six years.[13]
Qualifications
To serve on the supreme court, a judge must be:
- admitted to practice law in Washington; and
- under the age of 75.[14]
Chief justice
The chief justice of the supreme court is selected through a peer vote and has a set term of four years.[15]
Vacancies
In the event of a midterm vacancy, the governor appoints a replacement. The appointee serves until the next general election, at which point he or she may run to serve for the remainder of the predecessor's term.[16] If the resignation and subsequent appointment takes place after the filing period opens for that year's elections, the appointee must stand in the next year's election to remain on the bench.[17]
The map below highlights how vacancies are filled in state supreme courts across the country.
See also
2026 Elections
External links
|
Officeholder Washington State Supreme Court Position 7 |
Footnotes
- ↑ Komo News, "Debra Stephens elected as next chief justice of state Supreme Court," November 6, 2019
- ↑ ‘'Washington State Standard, "WA’s newest state Supreme Court justice is sworn in," January 13, 2025
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Washington Courts, "Justice Debra L. Stephens," accessed December 26, 2014
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ Project Vote Smart, "Debra Stephens' Biography," accessed December 26, 2014
- ↑ Washington Secretary of State, “2014 Candidates Who Have Filed,” accessed May 22, 2014
- ↑ Washington Secretary of State, "2008 General Election Results," archived August 12, 2011
- ↑ Follow the Money, "Debra Stephens," accessed December 26, 2014
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ Stanford University, "State Supreme Court Ideology and 'New Style' Judicial Campaigns," October 31, 2012
- ↑ National Center for State Courts, Methods of Judicial Selection: Washington," accessed April 16, 2025
- ↑ National Center for State Courts, Methods of Judicial Selection: Washington," accessed April 16, 2025
- ↑ National Center for State Courts, Methods of Judicial Selection: Washington," accessed April 16, 2025
- ↑ Washington State Legislature, "Washington State Constitution," accessed April 16, 2025 (Scroll to Article IV, Section 3)
- ↑ National Center for State Courts, Methods of Judicial Selection: Washington," accessed April 16, 2025
Federal courts:
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Eastern District of Washington, Western District of Washington • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Eastern District of Washington, Western District of Washington
State courts:
Washington Supreme Court • Washington Court of Appeals • Washington Superior Court • Washington District Courts • Washington Municipal Courts
State resources:
Courts in Washington • Washington judicial elections • Judicial selection in Washington
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