Delaware Supreme Court justice vacancy (July 2026)
| Delaware Supreme Court |
|---|
 |
| Valihura vacancy |
| Date: July 25, 2026 |
| Status: Retirement scheduled |
| Nomination |
| Nominee: To be determined |
| Date: To be determined |
Delaware Supreme Court Justice Karen L. Valihura is retiring on July 25, 2026. Valihura's replacement will be Governor Meyer's (D) first nominee to the five-member supreme court.
In Delaware, state supreme court justices are selected through assisted appointment with a governor-controlled judicial nominating commission. Justices are appointed by the governor with the assistance of a commission with a majority of members selected by the governor. There are 10 states that use this selection method. To read more about the assisted appointment of judges, click here.
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 judge's term. A judicial nominating commission recommends qualified candidates to the governor, and the governor selects a successor from that list with Senate approval. The new appointee serves a 12-year term.[1][2]
Ballotpedia has compiled the following resources on the process to fill the Delaware 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 2026.
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 Delaware
In Delaware, state supreme court justices are selected through assisted appointment with a governor-controlled judicial nominating commission. Justices are appointed by the governor with the assistance of a commission with a majority of members selected by the governor. There are 10 states that use this selection method. To read more about the assisted appointment of judges, click here.
Makeup of the court
- See also: Delaware Supreme Court
Justices
Following Valihura's retirement, the Delaware Supreme Court included the following members:
| ■ N. Christopher Griffiths | Appointed by Gov. John Carney Jr. (D) in 2023 | |
| ■ Abigail LeGrow | Appointed by Gov. John Carney Jr. (D) in 2023 | |
| ■ Gary Traynor | Appointed by Gov. John Carney Jr. (D) in 2017 | |
| ■ Collins Seitz Jr. | Appointed by Gov. John Carney Jr. (D) in 2019 |
About the court
Founded in 1951, the Delaware Supreme Court is the state's court of last resort and has five judgeships. The current chief of the court is Collins Seitz Jr.
As of May 2023, all five judges on the court were appointed by Democratic governors.
The Delaware Supreme Court meets in Dover, Delaware.
In Delaware, state supreme court justices are selected through assisted appointment with a governor-controlled judicial nominating commission. Justices are appointed by the governor with the assistance of a commission with a majority of members selected by the governor. There are 10 states that use this selection method. To read more about the assisted appointment of judges, click here.
About Justice Valihura
- See also: Karen L. Valihura
Valihura received her undergraduate degree from Washington & Jefferson College in 1985 and her J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1988.[3] She clerked for the Honorable Robert Cowen of the United States Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit from 1988 to 1989, and worked as an attorney with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom, LLP from 1989 until being appointed to the Delaware Supreme Court in 2014.[4][3]
Other state supreme court appointments in 2026
- See also: State supreme court vacancies, 2026
The following table lists vacancies on state supreme courts that opened in 2026. Click the link under the Court column for a particular vacancy for more information on that vacancy.
Click here for vacancies that opened in 2025.
| 2026 State Supreme Court Vacancies |
|---|
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Delaware.gov, "Executive Order 16," accessed March 28, 2023
- ↑ Brennan Center for Justice, "Judicial Selection: An Interactive Map," accessed March 23, 2023
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom, LLP, "Karen L. Valihura Profile," accessed June 9, 2014
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedappoint
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Federal courts:
Third Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: District of Delaware • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: District of Delaware
State courts:
Delaware Supreme Court • Superior Court of Delaware • Delaware Court of Chancery • Delaware Family Court • Delaware Court of Common Pleas • Delaware Justice of the Peace Courts • Delaware Alderman's Courts
State resources:
Courts in Delaware • Delaware judicial elections • Judicial selection in Delaware
| |||||||
