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Iowa judicial elections, 2016
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| 2016 State Judicial Elections | |
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| Part 1: Overview | |
| Part 2: Supreme Courts | |
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| Part 4: Changes in 2016 | |
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Seven seats on Iowa's state-level courts were up for retention elections on November 8, 2016. Three seats on the Iowa Supreme Court joined four seats on the Iowa Court of Appeals on the general election ballot.
The supreme court seats up for election were held by Chief Justice Mark Cady, Justice Daryl Hecht, and Justice Brent Appel heading into the election. If retained, a justice serves for eight years prior to the next retention election.
Judges Richard Doyle, Amanda Potterfield, Gayle Vogel, and David R. Danilson held the appeals court seats up for election in 2016. If retained, an appeals court judge serves for six years prior to the next retention election.
Judges who faced retention
Supreme Court
■ Mark Cady 
■ Daryl Hecht
■ Brent Appel
Court of Appeals
■ Richard Doyle
■ Amanda Potterfield
■ Gayle Vogel
■ David R. Danilson
Election results
November 8, 2016
Supreme Court
Mark Cady was retained in the Iowa Supreme Court election with 65.30% of the vote.
| Iowa Supreme Court, Cady's seat, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Name | Yes votes | |
| Mark Cady | 65.30% | |
| Source: Iowa Secretary of State Official Results | ||
Daryl Hecht was retained in the Iowa Supreme Court election with 64.08% of the vote.
| Iowa Supreme Court, Hecht's seat, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Name | Yes votes | |
| Daryl Hecht | 64.08% | |
| Source: Iowa Secretary of State Official Results | ||
Brent Appel was retained in the Iowa Supreme Court election with 64.36% of the vote.
| Iowa Supreme Court, Appel's seat, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Name | Yes votes | |
| Brent Appel | 64.36% | |
| Source: Iowa Secretary of State Official Results | ||
Court of Appeals
Richard Doyle was retained in the Iowa Court of Appeals, Doyle's seat election with 70.11% of the vote.
| Iowa Court of Appeals, Doyle's seat, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Name | Yes votes | |
| Richard Doyle | 70.11% | |
| Source: Iowa Secretary of State Official Results | ||
Amanda Potterfield was retained in the Iowa Court of Appeals, Potterfield's seat election with 70.75% of the vote.
| Iowa Court of Appeals, Potterfield's seat, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Name | Yes votes | |
| Amanda Potterfield | 70.75% | |
| Source: Iowa Secretary of State Official Results | ||
Gayle Vogel was retained in the Iowa Court of Appeals, Vogel's seat election with 71.04% of the vote.
| Iowa Court of Appeals, Vogel's seat, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Name | Yes votes | |
| Gayle Vogel | 71.04% | |
| Source: Iowa Secretary of State Official Results | ||
David R. Danilson was retained in the Iowa Court of Appeals, Danilson's seat election with 69.81% of the vote.
| Iowa Court of Appeals, Danilson's seat, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Name | Yes votes | |
| David R. Danilson | 69.81% | |
| Source: Iowa Secretary of State Official Results | ||
Selection
- See also: Judicial selection in Iowa
Iowa high court justices and appeals court judges are [[Assisted appointment (judicial selection)|appointed by the governor from a list prepared by the Iowa Judicial Nominating Commission. Judges must then stand for retention in the next election at least one year following appointment. Iowa judicial elections consist solely of retention elections for incumbent judges. In Iowa's retention elections, voters are asked to decide whether a judge should remain in office. The judge is retained for a new term if a majority of voters answers with a "yes" vote. If the majority responds with a "no" vote, the judge is removed from the bench at the end of the term.[1]
State profile
| Demographic data for Iowa | ||
|---|---|---|
| Iowa | U.S. | |
| Total population: | 3,121,997 | 316,515,021 |
| Land area (sq mi): | 55,857 | 3,531,905 |
| Race and ethnicity** | ||
| White: | 91.2% | 73.6% |
| Black/African American: | 3.2% | 12.6% |
| Asian: | 2% | 5.1% |
| Native American: | 0.3% | 0.8% |
| Pacific Islander: | 0.1% | 0.2% |
| Two or more: | 2% | 3% |
| Hispanic/Latino: | 5.4% | 17.1% |
| Education | ||
| High school graduation rate: | 91.5% | 86.7% |
| College graduation rate: | 26.7% | 29.8% |
| Income | ||
| Median household income: | $53,183 | $53,889 |
| Persons below poverty level: | 13.8% | 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 Iowa. **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 Iowa
Iowa voted for the Republican candidate in four 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, 31 are located in Iowa, accounting for 15.04 percent of the total pivot counties.[2]
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. Iowa had 31 Retained Pivot Counties, 17.13 percent of all Retained Pivot Counties.
More Iowa coverage on Ballotpedia
- Elections in Iowa
- United States congressional delegations from Iowa
- Public policy in Iowa
- Endorsers in Iowa
- Iowa fact checks
- More...
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Iowa judicial election' OR 'Iowa court election' OR. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ American Judicature Society, "What you need to know about judicial retention elections: A guide to Iowa's judicial retention elections," 2012, accessed June 7, 2014
- ↑ The raw data for this study was provided by Dave Leip of Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.
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Federal courts:
Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Northern District of Iowa, Southern District of Iowa • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Northern District of Iowa, Southern District of Iowa
State courts:
Iowa Supreme Court • Iowa Court of Appeals • Iowa district courts
State resources:
Courts in Iowa • Iowa judicial elections • Judicial selection in Iowa
