Your feedback ensures we stay focused on the facts that matter to you most—take our survey.
Rich Anderson
Rich Anderson (Republican Party) is a judge of the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals. He assumed office on January 20, 2025. His current term ends on January 20, 2031.
Anderson (Republican Party) ran for election for judge of the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals. He won in the general election on November 5, 2024.
Anderson completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Rich Anderson was born in Montgomery, Alabama. Anderson earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Mississippi in 1997 and a J.D. from Washington and Lee University Law School in 2000. His career experience includes working as an attorney. Anderson has been affiliated with the National Rifle Association, Gun Owners of America, The Federalist Society, Bama Carry, and Sons of the Republic of Texas.[1]
Elections
2024
See also: Alabama intermediate appellate court elections, 2024
General election
General election for Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals
Rich Anderson won election in the general election for Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Rich Anderson (R)  | 97.9 | 1,546,549 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 2.1 | 32,940 | ||
| Total votes: 1,579,489 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals
Rich Anderson defeated Thomas Govan in the Republican primary for Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals on March 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Rich Anderson | 55.3 | 260,934 |
| Thomas Govan | 44.7 | 210,515 | ||
| Total votes: 471,449 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Campaign finance
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Anderson in this election.
2018
General election
General election for Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals
Chris McCool won election in the general election for Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Chris McCool (R) | 97.1 | 1,079,559 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 2.9 | 32,504 | ||
| Total votes: 1,112,063 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary runoff election
Republican primary runoff for Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals
Chris McCool defeated Rich Anderson in the Republican primary runoff for Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals on July 17, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Chris McCool | 55.6 | 153,773 |
| Rich Anderson | 44.4 | 122,958 | |
| Total votes: 276,731 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals
Chris McCool and Rich Anderson advanced to a runoff. They defeated Dennis O'Dell in the Republican primary for Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals on June 5, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Chris McCool | 42.6 | 172,773 |
| ✔ | | Rich Anderson | 34.8 | 141,166 |
 | Dennis O'Dell | 22.7 | 92,019 | |
| Total votes: 405,958 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Rich Anderson completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Anderson's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
| Collapse all
I've also been a small businessman, my wife and I have renovated 8 houses in Montgomery over the nineteen years of our marriage.
- Alabama needs judges who have the right experience to do the job from day one! With a quarter-century of appellate experience under my belt, I'll be ready. And with my record of real work in the real world, the people of Alabama can rest assured that I won't be afraid of doing the hard work that will be needed on the court.
- Judges' jobs haven't changed much since Moses first set up the Israelites' judicial system 3,000 years ago: hear the causes that come before you, judge righteously between each man and his brother, and the stranger who is with them. Show no favoritism, but hear the small as well as the great. And do no fear the face of man in judgment, because judgement is God's. That's the job that I intend to do for the people of Alabama.
- Our system of laws is founded on the state and federal constitutions. The first test of any law is that it must not conflict with the Constitution. Assuming it meets that test, judges are required to apply the law fairly, accurately, and consistently - without imposing their own policy preferences.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Selection method
- See also: Partisan election of judges
All judges on the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals and Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals are elected for six-year terms in partisan elections.[2]
There are five judges on the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals and five on the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals. Vacancies, which can occur when a judge dies, resigns, retires or is removed from office, are filled through appointments by the governor of Alabama. Any judge appointed in this fashion must then stand for election in the next general election occurring at least one year after taking office.[3]
Qualifications
To be considered a candidate for either court, the person must:
- Be licensed to practice law in Alabama.
- Have lived in Alabama for at least one year.
- Be 70 years of age or younger at the time of candidacy.[4]
Selection of the chief judge
In the civil appeals court, the chief is chosen by seniority; in the criminal appeals court, the chief is chosen by peer vote. Both courts maintain their chief judges for indefinite terms.[3]
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on March 1, 2024
- ↑ Alabama Unified Judicial System, "Qualifications of Judges," accessed July 30, 2014
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Alabama," archived October 2, 2014
- ↑ Alabama Unified Judicial System, "Alabama Appellate Courts," accessed July 30, 2014
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Chris McCool (R) |
Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals 2025-Present |
Succeeded by - |
Federal courts:
Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Northern District of Alabama, Middle District of Alabama, Southern District of Alabama • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Northern District of Alabama, Middle District of Alabama, Southern District of Alabama
State courts:
Alabama Supreme Court • Alabama Court of Civil Appeals • Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals • Alabama Circuit Courts • Alabama District Courts • Alabama Juvenile Courts • Alabama Municipal Courts • Alabama Probate Courts • Alabama Small Claims Courts
State resources:
Courts in Alabama • Alabama judicial elections • Judicial selection in Alabama
| ||||||||||
