Indiana judicial election recap, 2012
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Overall, the status quo was preserved in Indiana's 2012 judicial races, and the courts will remain much as they had before November 6th. In the Circuit Court races, two incumbents were defeated. They were the only incumbents in the state who were unsuccessful in their bids for re-election. One of the races, between challenger Benjamin A. Diener and incumbent Donald E. Currie, ended in the primary. Both Republicans, Currie and Diener competed against one another on May 8, and Diener was successful, receiving 66.8 percent of the vote. The other race in which an incumbent lost, between Democrat incumbent Frederick A. Schurger and Republican challenger Chad E. Kukelhan, was fought on November 6; the race was close, but Kukelhan obtained a clear victory, garnering 52.4 percent of the vote.
Indiana judicial elections summary, 2012 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The appellate court justices in Indiana are chosen via a commission-selection, political appointment method of judicial selection. Justices serve 10-year terms, and then face retention. In this year's elections, four Indiana Court of Appeals judges and two Indiana Supreme Court justices were facing retention, and all six justices were retained. While this in itself is not surprising, as no justice has ever failed to be retained in Indiana since this system was put into place in 1970, one justice did face stark opposition to his retention, and subsequently obtained the least votes for any retention this year.
Supreme Court justice Steven David faced opposition to his retention in response to his involvement in a controversial ruling on the right to resist police. In the finding, David and other justices on the court ruled that Indiana residents had no right to resist police entry to their homes, even if that entry was illegal. The strong response to the ruling and ensuing campaign against David's retention prompted him to create a campaign website, the first for a justice seeking retention in Indiana. Justice David was retained with 68.9 percent of the vote, while all other justices received between 71.4 percent and 73.8%.
There were four close races in the state, which are awaiting final official results. One such race is for the only Probate Court in the state, found in St. Joseph County, between Democrat Andre B. Gammage and Republican James N. Fox. The candidates competed to fill the seat left vacant by retiring justice Peter J. Nemeth. Two Circuit Court races were too close to call; one in Bloomginton, where no votes have officially been reported, and another in Delaware County between Republican incumbent Alan Wilson and challenging Democrat Kimberly S. Dowling. The race is currently tipped in Dowling's favor. The final close race is the Clay County Superior Court race between incumbent Democrat J. Blaine Akers and challenging Republican Robert Alex Pell; currently, the race is tipped in Akers favor. These races will be decided upon the release of official vote tallies from the Indiana Secretary of State's office.
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