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Georgia Supreme Court elections, 2016
| 2016 State Judicial Elections |
|---|
 |
| Part 1: Overview |
| Part 2: Supreme Courts |
| Part 3: Partisanship |
| Part 4: Changes in 2016 |
One seat on the Georgia Supreme Court was up for election on May 24, 2016. This seat was held by Justice David Nahmias heading into the election. Justice Nahmias won re-election, running unopposed. Each justice elected to the court serves a six-year term.
Candidates
■ David Nahmias 
(Incumbent/Unopposed)
Election results
| Georgia Supreme Court, David Nahmias' Seat, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| David Nahmias Incumbent (unopposed) |
100.00% | 775,214 |
| Total Votes (159 of 159: 100%) | 775,214 | |
| Source: Georgia Secretary of State Official Results | ||
Political composition
Georgia's supreme court justices are elected in nonpartisan elections.
Chief Justice Hugh Thompson
Presiding Justice Harris Hines
Justice Carol Hunstein
Justice Robert Benham
Justice Harold Melton
Justice David Nahmias
Justice Keith Blackwell
Selection
- See also: Judicial selection in Georgia
Judges are selected using the nonpartisan election of judges system. Judges serve six-year terms. When an interim vacancy occurs, the seat is filled using the assisted appointment method of judicial selection with the governor picking the interim justice from a slate provided by the Georgia Judicial Nominating Commission, which consists of 18 members who are appointed by the governor and who serve at his pleasure. The commission recommends at least five candidates to the governor for each judicial vacancy unless fewer than five applicants are found to be qualified. There is no requirement that the governor appoint a candidate from the nominating commission's list.[1]
The court's chief justice is elected from among and by the state's justices on a rotating basis.[2]
Political outlook
In October 2012, political science professors Adam Bonica and Michael Woodruff of Stanford University attempted to determine the partisan outlook of state supreme court justices in their paper, "State Supreme Court Ideology and 'New Style' Judicial Campaigns." A score above 0 indicated a more conservative-leaning ideology while scores below 0 were more liberal. The state Supreme Court of Georgia was given a campaign finance score (CFscore), which was calculated for judges in October 2012. At that time, Georgia received a score of 0.09. Based on the justices selected, Georgia was the 20th most conservative court. The study was based on data from campaign contributions by judges themselves, the partisan leaning of contributors to the judges, 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 rather an academic gauge of various factors.[3]
Qualifications
Minimum qualifications for election to the court are:
Removal of Justices
Justices may be removed in one of two ways:
- The Georgia Judicial Qualifications Commission may discipline, retire, or remove a judge. Removal and retirement decisions must be reviewed by the supreme court.
- Judges may be impeached by the Georgia House of Representatives and convicted by a two-thirds vote of the Georgia State Senate.[2]
State profile
| Demographic data for Georgia | ||
|---|---|---|
| Georgia | U.S. | |
| Total population: | 10,199,398 | 316,515,021 |
| Land area (sq mi): | 57,513 | 3,531,905 |
| Race and ethnicity** | ||
| White: | 60.2% | 73.6% |
| Black/African American: | 30.9% | 12.6% |
| Asian: | 3.6% | 5.1% |
| Native American: | 0.3% | 0.8% |
| Pacific Islander: | 0% | 0.2% |
| Two or more: | 2.1% | 3% |
| Hispanic/Latino: | 9.1% | 17.1% |
| Education | ||
| High school graduation rate: | 85.4% | 86.7% |
| College graduation rate: | 28.8% | 29.8% |
| Income | ||
| Median household income: | $49,620 | $53,889 |
| Persons below poverty level: | 21.1% | 11.3% |
| Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Georgia. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here. | ||
Presidential voting pattern
- See also: Presidential voting trends in Georgia
Georgia voted Republican in six out of the seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.
Pivot Counties (2016)
Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won these Pivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, five are located in Georgia, accounting for 2.43 percent of the total pivot counties.[5]
Pivot Counties (2020)
In 2020, Ballotpedia re-examined the 206 Pivot Counties to view their voting patterns following that year's presidential election. Ballotpedia defined those won by Trump won as Retained Pivot Counties and those won by Joe Biden (D) as Boomerang Pivot Counties. Nationwide, there were 181 Retained Pivot Counties and 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties. Georgia had five Retained Pivot Counties, 2.76 percent of all Retained Pivot Counties.
More Georgia coverage on Ballotpedia
- Elections in Georgia
- United States congressional delegations from Georgia
- Public policy in Georgia
- Endorsers in Georgia
- Georgia fact checks
- More...
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Georgia Supreme Court election' OR 'Georgia judicial elections' 'Georgia court elections 2016'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Georgia; Judicial Nominating Commissions," archived October 2, 2014
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Georgia Supreme Court: Official Website
- ↑ Stanford University, "State Supreme Court Ideology and 'New Style' Judicial Campaigns," October 31, 2012
- ↑ Up until 2000, the requirement for years of service was five years, but a new constitutional amendment (Georgia Amendment 7) was approved in 2000 changing the requirement to seven years.
- ↑ The raw data for this study was provided by Dave Leip of Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.
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Federal courts:
Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Middle District of Georgia, Northern District of Georgia, Southern District of Georgia • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Middle District of Georgia, Northern District of Georgia, Southern District of Georgia
State courts:
Georgia Supreme Court • Georgia Court of Appeals • Georgia Superior Courts • Georgia State Courts • Georgia Business Court • Georgia Tax Court • Georgia Juvenile Courts • Georgia Probate Courts • Georgia Magistrate Courts • Georgia Municipal Courts
State resources:
Courts in Georgia • Georgia judicial elections • Judicial selection in Georgia
