JP Election Brief: 2012 State Supreme Court Results

November 7, 2012

by: the State Court Staff

2012 State Supreme Court Results

It's the day after the election and the results are in! Find out how the candidates for the highest state courts fared.

Partisan balance

This year, Judgepedia kept a watchful eye on the partisan balance of the State Supreme Courts in five states with the potential to switch as a result of yesterday’s election. Those courts were the Illinois Supreme Court, Louisiana Supreme Court, Michigan Supreme Court, North Carolina Supreme Court and the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia. (Note: Of these five courts, in Michigan and North Carolina judicial candidates technically compete in nonpartisan elections, though their party affiliation is well known.) The high courts in Illinois, Louisiana and West Virginia had Democratic majorities in 2012, while Michigan and North Carolina had slim Republican majorities.

Though there were some unexpected results in these races, the partisan balance on none of the aforementioned courts switched...yet. The only holdout is in Louisiana, where the top two vote getters, John Guidry and Jefferson Hughes will compete in a runoff election on December 8th.

Current composition

Illinois: 4 Democrat, 3 Republican

A victory for Riley would have flipped the balance to 3 Democrats (incumbent Theis is a Democrat) and 4 Republicans. Theis won, so the composition remains.

Louisiana: 4 Democrat, 3 Republican

Retiring Justice Kimball is a Democrat, so a victory for Republican Hughes would flip the balance to 3 Democrats, 4 Republicans. The runoff election will be on December 8, 2012.

Michigan: 4 Republican, 3 Democrat (Nonpartisan race)

Republicans have held the majority since 1988 and will continue to do so. Zahra, Markman and O'Brien, all Republicans, were victorious, which means the GOP picked up another seat. O'Brien will fill the vacancy of retiring Democratic Justice Marilyn Kelly, making the count 5-2 Republicans.

North Carolina: 4 Republican, 3 Democrat (Nonpartisan race)

Since incumbent Justice Newby, a Republican, was re-elected, there will be no change in the court's partisan balance.

West Virginia: 4 Democrat, 1 Republican

Chief Justice Robin Jean Davis, a Democrat, kept her seat. Republican Allen Loughry won the seat of retiring Democratic Justice Thomas E. McHugh, which will bring the count to 3 Democrat, 2 Republican.

Note: "(I)" next to a candidate's name indicates incumbency.

Alabama

	Candidates
Roy Moore (R)	vs.	Robert S. Vance (D)
51.8% A		48.2% A

Moore returns to the court in this close race for Chief Justice. Moore's prominence as the "Ten Commandments" judge made this a race to watch as he tried to get his old job back. If Vance had won, he would have been the only Democrat on the court, and the Chief Justice at that.

Illinois

	Candidates
James G. Riley (R)	vs.	Mary Jane Theis (I) (D)
15.5% A		84.5% A

Democrats will retain the majority following a strong victory by Justice Theis.

Kentucky

	Candidates
Janet Stumbo	vs.	Will T. Scott (I)
41.9% A		58.1% A

Stumbo's attempt to return to the Supreme Court, where she previously served from 1993 to 2004, was stopped by incumbent Justice Scott.

Louisiana

	Candidates	(5th District, 1 seat)
Tim Kelley (R)	Toni M. Higginbotham (R)	William Morvant (R)	John Guidry (D)
3.1% A	10.8% A	10.7% A	27.5% A
Jefferson Hughes (R)	Jewel "Duke" Welch (R)	Mary Olive Pierson (D)	Jeffry L. Sanford (Libertarian)
21.2% A	11.1% A	14.8% A	1.0% A
	Candidates	(6th District, 1 seat)
	John L. Weimer A	unopposed

The Louisiana Secretary of State shows Democratic Judge Guidry with the highest vote percentage in the eight-person race, bringing in 27%. His Republican opponent in the runoff election won 21% of the vote yesterday.

Runoff

The two colleagues on the First Circuit Court of Appeal ran to represent the 5th Supreme Court District and succeed Catherine D. Kimball. Hughes was victorious in the runoff election on December 8.

Candidates	(5th District, 1 seat)
John Guidry (D)	Jefferson Hughes (R)
47.2% A	52.8% A

Michigan

Candidates: Full term	(2 seats)
Colleen O'Brien	Doug Dern
21.3% A	3.5% A
Stephen Markman (I)	Connie Marie Kelley
24.3% A	20.2% A
Kerry L. Morgan	Bridget Mary McCormack
4.1% A	23.8% A
Bob Roddis
2.9% A
Candidates: Partial term	(1 seat)
Brian Zahra (I)	Mindy Barry
52.3% A	9.2% A
Shelia Johnson
38.4% A

* Presidential swing state to watch:
Though Democrats won Michigan in the presidential election, Republicans retained two seats in the state's Supreme Court election. However, a close race that initially showed a victory for Republican Colleen O'Brien, turned out to be a win for Democrat Bridget Mary McCormack after all the votes were counted by Nov. 9. This will yield no change in the partisan balance of the court, as McCormack will replace a retiring Democratic justice.

Minnesota

	Candidates
	Chief Justice
Lorie Gildea (I)	vs.	Dan Griffith
60.0% A		39.6% A
	Place 1
Barry Anderson (I)	vs.	Dean Barkley
59.0% A		40.7% A
	Place 4
Tim Tingelstad	vs.	David Stras (I)
43.6% A		56.0% A

Governor Pawlenty's three appointees, incumbents Gildea, Anderson and Stras, were re-elected.

Mississippi

	Candidates
	District 1, Position 1
Earle Banks	vs.	William Waller (I)
45% A		55% A
	District 1, Position 2
Leslie King	vs.	unopposed
100% A
	District 2, Position 3
Talmadge Braddock	vs.	Mike Randolph (I)
23% A		77% A
	District 3, Position 3
Josiah Coleman	vs.	Richard T. Phillips
58% A		42% A

Three incumbents were re-elected: Waller, King and Randolph. 39-year-old attorney Josiah Coleman bested his opponent, Richard T. Phillips, to become the youngest justice to serve on the state's Supreme Court.

Montana

	Candidates
Laurie McKinnon	vs.	Ed Sheehy
53% A		47% A

This year, a federal appeals court allowed political endorsements in Montana judicial elections, making the elections partisan for the first time since the 1930s. McKinnon will replace retiring Justice James Nelson (Montana).

Nevada

	Candidates (unopposed)
Nancy Saitta (I)	Michael Douglas (I)	Michael Cherry (I)
73.3% A	74.3% A	73.3% A

In this uneventful election, three incumbents ran unopposed and were re-elected.

New Mexico

	Candidates
Richard Bosson (I) A		unopposed
Paul J. Kennedy (I)	vs.	Barbara J. Vigil
45% A		54% A

Kennedy first served as an interim judge on the Supreme Court for a short time in 2002. He returned in 2012 to temporarily fill the vacancy of retired Justice Patricio Serna. Kennedy's bid for election to a full term was thwarted by Vigil.

North Carolina

	Candidates
Paul Martin Newby (I) (R)	vs.	Sam Ervin (D)
52.0% A		48.0% A

* Presidential swing state to watch:
As North Carolina went to the Republicans in the presidential race, so it did in the state Supreme Court race. Democratic candidate Sam Ervin did manage to capture 48% of the votes in this close race, but it wasn't enough to unseat Justice Newby.

Ohio

	Candidates
	Term commencing 1/1
Terrence O'Donnell (I) (R)	vs.	Mike Skindell (D)
69.3% A		30.7% A
	Term commencing 1/2
Robert Cupp (I) (R)	vs.	William O'Neill (D)
47.7% A		52.3% A
	Term commencing 1/3
Sharon L. Kennedy (R)	vs.	Yvette McGee Brown (I) (D)
57.3% A		42.7% A

* Presidential swing state to watch:
Ohio's Democratic leanings in the presidential race were not as prominent in the state Supreme Court races, though they did surface. Democrat William O'Neill was victorious over incumbent Justice Robert Cupp, Republican. Ohio hasn't elected a Democrat to their Supreme Court since 2000. However, Democratic Justice Yvette McGee Brown was ousted by Republican Sharon L. Kennedy, which means the current partisan composition of the court (6 R, 1 D), though shaken, will remain.

Texas

Candidates:
Supreme Court
Place 2
Don Willett (I) (R) 78.8% A vs. Robert Stuart Koelsch (Libertarian) 21.2% A
Place 4
John Devine (R) 75.1% A vs. Tom Oxford (Libertarian) 16.9% A vs. Charles E. Waterbury (Green) 8.1% A
Place 6
Nathan Hecht (I) (R) 53.7% A vs. Michele Petty (D) 41.9% A vs. Mark Ash (Libertarian) 3.0% A vs. Jim Chisholm (Green) 1.3% A
Candidates:
Court of Criminal Appeals
Presiding Judge
Sharon Keller (I) (R) 55.5% A vs. Keith Hampton (D) 41.2% A vs. Lance Stott (Libertarian) 3.3% A
Place 7
Barbara Hervey (I) (R) 77.9% A vs. Mark Bennett (Libertarian) 22.1% A
Place 8
Elsa Alcala (I) (R) 78.1% A vs. William Bryan Strange (Libertarian) 21.9% A

Texas voters chose all Republicans in both high courts. Justice Sharon Keller became unpopular in the state after her "office closes at 5" statement regarding a death penalty case. However, she was able to sneak by Keith Hampton with 55.5% of the vote to keep her seat.

Washington

	Candidates
Richard Sanders	vs.	Sheryl McCloud
44.9% A		55.1% A
Steven Gonzalez (unopposed)		Susan Owens (unopposed)
100% A		100% A

Sanders is a former state Supreme Court justice who lost re-election in 2010 and was hoping for another chance to join the court. He was defeated by McCloud in the race for the seat of retiring Justice Tom Chambers.

West Virginia

		Candidates (2 seats)
Allen Loughry (R)	John Yoder (R)	vs.	Letitia Chafin (D)	Robin Jean Davis (I) (D)
26.8% A	23.6% A		22.6% A	27.1% A

Republicans gained one seat on this predominantly Democratic Supreme Court. Allen Loughry will replace retiring Democratic Justice Thomas E. McHugh, bringing the partisan count to 3 Democrat, 2 Republican. Chief Justice Robin Jean Davis was re-elected.

Notable retentions

Florida

	Candidates (retention)
Fred Lewis	Barbara Pariente	Peggy Quince
67.4% A	67.9% A	67.6% A

* Presidential swing state to watch: In the ever-competitive state of Florida, the electoral votes for the presidential race were still in limbo after President Obama was announced victorious. However, the judicial retentions were not so close. Conservatives had been campaigning against the retentions of Justices Lewis, Pariente and Quince, claiming that they were unduly activist in their rulings. Though they managed to get the "Yes" votes down to about 67%, it was not enough to oust the justices.

Iowa

	Candidates	(retention)
Bruce B. Zager	Thomas Waterman	Edward Mansfield	David Wiggins
74.1% A	74.8% A	74.3% A	54.5% A

* Presidential swing state to watch:
In a situation similar to Florida's, conservatives had been campaigning against the retention of Justice David Wiggins. He was involved with a ruling that removed a ban on gay marriage. Three of his colleagues were dramatically ousted in the 2010 retention elections, but Wiggins managed to hold on to his seat with a small majority.

Other retentions

Every justice up for retention this year was retained.

Alaska

Daniel Winfree: Retained 64.9%A

Arizona

John Pelander: Retained 74.05%A

Colorado

* Presidential swing state to watch:
Nathan Coats: Retained 71.39%A

Illinois

Rita Garman: Retained A

Indiana

Steven David: Retained 68.9%A

Robert Rucker: Retained 71.4%A

Kansas

Nancy Moritz: Retained 71%A

Montana

Brian Morris: Retained 77%A

Nebraska

Michael McCormack: Retained 70.36% A

Kenneth Stephan: Retained 77.57% A

Oklahoma

Supreme Court:
Douglas L. Combs: Retained 66.4%A

Noma Gurich: Retained 66.5%A

Yvonne Kauger: Retained 65.6%A

James Edmondson: Retained 66.9%A

Court of Criminal Appeals:
Arlene Johnson: Retained 66.6%A

David B. Lewis: Retained 67%A

Carlene Clancy Smith: Retained 65.8%A

South Dakota

Glen A. Severson: Retained 80.18%A

See also

• Judgepedia's Election Central