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Robert V. Bolinske Sr.
Robert V. Bolinske ran for election for judge of the North Dakota Supreme Court. He lost in the general election on November 6, 2018.
Bolinske was a 2016 candidate for the North Dakota Supreme Court. He ran against Judge Jerod Tufte for the seat of retiring Justice Dale Sandstrom.[1] Bolinske was defeated.
Education
Bolinske received his bachelor's degree from the University of North Dakota in 1966 and his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1969.[2]
Career
- 1993-Present: Bolinske Law Firm
Elections
2018
General election
General election for North Dakota Supreme Court
Incumbent Lisa Fair McEvers defeated Robert V. Bolinske in the general election for North Dakota Supreme Court on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Lisa Fair McEvers (Nonpartisan) | 65.6 | 178,124 |
 | Robert V. Bolinske (Nonpartisan) | 33.9 | 92,088 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.5 | 1,458 | ||
| Total votes: 271,670 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
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Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for North Dakota Supreme Court
Incumbent Lisa Fair McEvers and Robert V. Bolinske advanced from the primary for North Dakota Supreme Court on June 12, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Lisa Fair McEvers (Nonpartisan) | 62.9 | 57,432 |
| ✔ | | Robert V. Bolinske (Nonpartisan) | 37.1 | 33,871 |
| Total votes: 91,303 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Selection method
- See also: Nonpartisan election of judges
The five justices of the North Dakota Supreme Court are chosen in nonpartisan elections to serve 10-year terms. Judicial hopefuls compete in a primary election, and the top two candidates advance to the general election in November. At the expiration of a judge's term, he or she must run for re-election to continue serving.[3] In the event of a midterm vacancy, the governor appoints a replacement with help from a judicial nominating commission. Alternatively, the governor may call a special election to fill the vacancy.[3] Appointed judges serve for at least two years, after which they must run in the general election to finish the remainder of the unexpired term.[3]
Qualifications
To serve on this court, a judge must be:
- a U.S. and state citizen and
- a licensed attorney.[3]
Selection of the chief justice
The court's chief justice is chosen by vote of the supreme and district court judges to serve a five-year term.[3]
2016
Bolinske ran for a seat on the North Dakota Supreme Court in 2016. He faced Judge Jerod Tufte for the seat of retiring Justice Dale Sandstrom.
Election results
November 8 general election
| North Dakota Supreme Court 2016, Sandstrom's Seat, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Jerod Tufte |
60.69% | 166,229 |
| Robert V. Bolinske Sr. | 38.63% | 105,805 |
| Write-in votes | 0.68% | 1,851 |
| Total Votes (432 of 432 precincts reporting: 100%) | 273,885 | |
| Source: North Dakota Secretary of State Official Results | ||
June 14 primary election
Because they are the only two candidates for the seat, Bolinske and Tufte both advanced through the June 14 primary to the November 8 general election.
| North Dakota Supreme Court Primary, Dale Sandstrom's Seat, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Jerod Tufte |
55.03% | 54,107 |
| Robert V. Bolinske Sr. |
44.65% | 43,899 |
| Write-in votes | 0.32% | 311 |
| Total Votes | 98,317 | |
| Source: North Dakota Secretary of State | ||
Forums and debates
Sept. 22, Cass County Bar Association meeting
On Sept. 22, 2016, the Cass County Bar Association hosted a forum for candidates Jerod Tufte and Robert V. Bolinske Sr. At the start of the candidate introductions, Bolinske took issue with the mention of the State Bar Association of North Dakota recommendations, in which member attorneys rated Tufte higher than Bolinske. Bolinske said that the association ratings were "flawed" and "jiggered." He said, "[I]t made me mad."[4] According to the Bismarck Tribune, he also accused Tufte of contacting friends to puff up his survey results and said to Tufte, "I wouldn't trust you as far as I could throw you."[4] When asked whether his words and actions called his temperament into question, the Tribune records Bolinske's response as, "Temperament, smemperament. What did Jesus do when he chased the thieves out of the temple? … Well, it was a just thing." Bolinske also said, "You can tell I go from zero to 60 pretty quickly."[4]
Bar Association recommendations
In June 2016, the State Bar Association of North Dakota released the results of its 2016 judicial survey. The number of valid responses to the survey questions was 248. Attorneys were asked to rate specific qualifications of judicial candidates on a scale of 1-5, with 1 the lowest and 5 the highest. The responses were averaged and the average reported for each candidate in each category. Survey respondents were asked to refrain from giving an answer in a category if they did not have enough information to do so. The averages for Jerod Tufte and Robert V. Bolinske, Sr. are reported below. The number of respondents choosing not to give answers on a particular candidate in a particular category is in parentheses next to the average. The number of respondents choosing not to give any answers, in any category, on a particular candidate is in the last column.
| State Bar Association of North Dakota Judicial Survey Results, 2016 | ||||||
| Candidate | Professional Competence |
Legal Experience | Judicial Temperament | Integrity | Average | No Response |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Robert V. Bolinske, Sr. | 2.99 (69 no ans.) | 3.54 (58 no ans.) | 2.50 (67 no ans.) | 2.92 (73 no ans.) | 2.99 | 41 |
| Jerod Tufte | 4.04 (51 no ans.) | 3.52 (49 no ans.) | 4.05 (54 no ans.) | 4.22 (53 no ans.) | 3.96 | 37 |
| Source: | State Bar Association of North Dakota | |||||
Campaign finance
| Robert V. Bolinske, Sr. Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| Pre-Primary | 5/13/2016 | $0.00 | $0.00 | Unknown | $0.00 | ||||
| Pre-General | 10/7/2016 | $0.00 | $640.00 | Unknown | $143.00 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $640 | $(0) | ||||||||
2008
In 2008, Bolinske requested that his name be placed on the North Dakota general election ballot for a supreme court vacancy without completing the necessary procedures to compete in the primary election. He petitioned the North Dakota Supreme Court to issue a writ of mandamus to compel the North Dakota secretary of state, Al Jaeger, to place him on the ballot.[5] He argued first that because there was only one candidate in the general election for the seat, a vacancy was created because an election, by definition, must be a choice between at least two candidates.[5] Second, he argued that legislative candidates could be placed on the ballot through the means he was seeking and that treating judicial candidates differently violated equal protection.[5]
The state supreme court held that the primary election laws requiring Bolinske to use proper procedures to place his name on the primary ballot did not violate his constitutional rights despite the different classifications of judicial candidates and legislative candidates.[5]
See also
- North Dakota Supreme Court
- Judicial selection in North Dakota
- North Dakota Supreme Court elections, 2018
External links
- Search Google News for this topic
- Supreme Court of North Dakota
- North Dakota Supreme Court, Bolinske v. Jaeger, September 29, 2008
Footnotes
- ↑ Secretary of State, North Dakota, "2016 Primary Election Contest/Candidate List," accessed April 12, 2016
- ↑ WDAY6, "ND Supreme Court candidate unimpressed with some judges, says he'll 'jack them up' in opinions," March 30, 2016
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: North Dakota," archived October 3, 2014
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 The Bismarck Tribune, "In tirade at Fargo meeting, N.D. Supreme Court candidate challenges opponent: ‘Let’s get it on’," October 4, 2016
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 North Dakota Supreme Court, Bolinske v. Jaeger, September 29, 2008
| |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Current judges | Douglas Bahr, Daniel Crothers, Jon Jay Jensen, Lisa Fair McEvers, Jerod Tufte | ||
| Former judges | Mary Muehlen Maring, Carol Ronning Kapsner, Dale V. Sandstrom, Gerald VandeWalle | ||
Federal courts:
Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: District of North Dakota • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: District of North Dakota
State courts:
North Dakota Supreme Court • North Dakota Court of Appeals • North Dakota District Courts • North Dakota Municipal Courts
State resources:
Courts in North Dakota • North Dakota judicial elections • Judicial selection in North Dakota
