Minnesota judicial election recap, 2012

2012 State Judicial Elections
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Here are some highlights from the recent judiciary elections held earlier this month in Minnesota. The state had a total of 89 judiciary candidates in all.

Supreme Court

The Supreme Court level featured three races: Chief Justice, Place 1 and Place 4. All three races were sound victories for the incumbent candidate. For Chief Justice, incumbent Lorie Gildea retained her seat, soundly defeating Dan Griffith by 20 percentage points. Place 1 winner, incumbent Barry Anderson, beat Dean Barkley. Interestingly, Anderson once spoke out against judicial elections. Finally, Alan Nelson once again beat Tim Tingelstad . The two faced each other for the same seat in 2008.

Court of Appeals

On the Court of Appeals level, two incumbents ran for re-election to their seats. Jill Flaskamp Halbrooks began serving on the court in 1998 after being appointed and was retained in 2000 and 2006. Renee Worke began her time on the court by appointment in 2005 and was subsequently elected to a full term in 2006. Halbrooks and Worke’s terms expire at the end of 2018.

District Courts

The bulk of Minnesota’s 89 elections were at this level. Most of the elections featured unopposed candidates, as well. Of the 74 elections at this level, only 5 were contested. The incumbents in each of those contested elections won the election and kept their seats.