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Sarah Stewart (Alabama)
2025 - Present
2031
0
Sarah Stewart (Republican Party) is the Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court. She assumed office on January 20, 2025. Her current term ends on January 20, 2031.
Stewart (Republican Party) ran for election as Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court. She won in the general election on November 5, 2024.
In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship, a study examining the partisan affiliation of all state supreme court justices in the country. As part of this study, we assigned each justice a Confidence Score describing our confidence in the degree of partisanship exhibited by the justices' past partisan behavior, before they joined the court.[1] Stewart received a confidence score of Mild Republican.[2] Click here to read more about this study.
Biography
Stewart lives in Mobile, Alabama. She received a B.A. in 1985 and an M.A. in communications in 1986 from the University of Arkansas. In 1992, she completed her J.D. at Vanderbilt University.[3]
Stewart worked as a private practice attorney from 1992 until 2006, when Gov. Bob Riley (R) appointed her to serve on the 13th Circuit Court in Alabama. In 2018, Stewart became the first female president of the Circuit Judges Association. She was elected to the Alabama Supreme Court in November 2018 and took office in January 2019.[3]
Elections
2024
See also: Alabama Supreme Court elections, 2024
General election
General election for Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice
Sarah Stewart defeated Greg Griffin in the general election for Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Sarah Stewart (R) | 65.8 | 1,458,501 |
 | Greg Griffin (D) | 34.1 | 756,675 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 2,350 | ||
| Total votes: 2,217,526 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Greg Griffin advanced from the Democratic primary for Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice.
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice
Sarah Stewart defeated Bryan Taylor in the Republican primary for Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice on March 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Sarah Stewart | 61.5 | 334,135 |
 | Bryan Taylor | 38.5 | 209,217 | |
| Total votes: 543,352 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Jerry M. Blevins (R)
Campaign finance
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Stewart in this election.
2018
General election
General election for Alabama Supreme Court
Sarah Stewart won election in the general election for Alabama Supreme Court on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Sarah Stewart (R) | 96.8 | 1,098,344 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 3.2 | 36,256 | ||
| Total votes: 1,134,600 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Republican primary runoff election
Republican primary runoff for Alabama Supreme Court
Sarah Stewart defeated incumbent Brad Mendheim in the Republican primary runoff for Alabama Supreme Court on July 17, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Sarah Stewart | 56.7 | 179,962 |
 | Brad Mendheim | 43.3 | 137,621 | |
| Total votes: 317,583 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Alabama Supreme Court
Incumbent Brad Mendheim and Sarah Stewart advanced to a runoff. They defeated Debra H. Jones in the Republican primary for Alabama Supreme Court on June 5, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Brad Mendheim | 43.4 | 203,369 |
| ✔ | | Sarah Stewart | 29.3 | 137,321 |
 | Debra H. Jones | 27.3 | 127,861 | |
| Total votes: 468,551 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
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2016
Alabama held general elections for local judicial offices in 2016. A primary election took place on March 1, 2016, with a primary runoff on April 12, 2016. The general election was held on November 8, 2016.
Incumbent Sarah Stewart ran unopposed in the general election for the Alabama 13th Judicial Circuit Place 7 seat.[4]
| Alabama 13th Judicial Circuit (Place 7), General Election, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Republican |  Sarah Stewart Incumbent (unopposed) | |
| Source: Alabama Votes, "2016 Unofficial General Election Results," accessed November 10, 2016 | ||
2010
- See also: Alabama judicial elections, 2010
Stewart was re-elected after running unopposed.[5]
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Sarah Stewart did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign website
Stewart’s campaign website stated the following:
| “ |
It is important for a justice to have strongly developed judicial values. My record reflects my conservative approach to dispensing justice impartially, ensuring Alabama’s body of jurisprudence evolves in strict accordance with conservative principles. My work as a Circuit Judge and a Justice speaks for itself - I have and will never legislate from the bench and I have and will always stand for Alabamians’ constitutional rights. I will fiercely safeguard our freedoms enshrined in the Constitution - from the right to praise God freely to the power of state government. Five of the original ten amendments to the US Constitution are about the justice system because the Founding Fathers looked to the judicial branch to protect these fundamental freedoms. The Alabama Supreme Court must stand as the final protective barrier to encroachment on the people of Alabama’s rights. As Chief Justice, I want Alabamians to be confident in the strength of our court system and trust the outcomes that come from the courts. Unlike the legislative branch that writes the laws and appropriates the money, or the executive branch that effectuates the laws and has the police force, as the judicial branch, all we have is the trust of the people. If the people of Alabama don’t believe in the trial courts, we cannot have justice in Alabama. If elected, I will work hard every day and use my 18 years of experience as an Alabama judge to strengthen the people’s trust in the court system.[6] |
” |
| —Sarah Stewart’s campaign website (2024)[7] | ||
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.
Analysis
Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship (2020)
Last updated: June 15, 2020
In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship, a study examining the partisan affiliation of all state supreme court justices in the country as of June 15, 2020.
The study presented Confidence Scores that represented our confidence in each justice's degree of partisan affiliation. This was not a measure of where a justice fell on an ideological spectrum, but rather a measure of how much confidence we had that a justice was or had been affiliated with a political party. The scores were based on seven factors, including but not limited to party registration.[8]
The five resulting categories of Confidence Scores were:
- Strong Democrat
- Mild Democrat
- Indeterminate[9]
- Mild Republican
- Strong Republican
This justice's Confidence Score, as well as the factors contributing to that score, is presented below. The information below was current as of June 2020.
Sarah
Stewart
Alabama
- Partisan Confidence Score:
Mild Republican - Judicial Selection Method:
Elected - Key Factors:
- Was a registered Republican
- Received donations from Republican-affiliated individuals or organizations
- Endorsed by Republican-affiliated individuals or organizations
Partisan Profile
Details:
Stewart ran as a registered Republican to gain her seat on the Alabama Supreme Court. She received campaign contributions from Republican-affiliated organizations including the Synovus Financial Corporation and CMG PAC. She received endorsements from Republican-affiliated organizations including the Business Council of Alabama. Alabama was a Republican trifecta at the time of her election.
State supreme court judicial selection in Alabama
- See also: Judicial selection in Alabama
The nine justices on the Alabama Supreme Court are selected through partisan elections for six-year terms. They appear on partisan election ballots statewide and face re-election if they wish to serve again.[10] For more information about these elections, visit the Alabama judicial elections page.
Qualifications
To serve on this court, a judge must be:
- licensed to practice law for at least 10 years;
- a state resident for at least one year;
- under the age of 70 at the time of election (judges who turn 70 in office may serve until their terms expire).[11][12]
Chief justice
The chief justice of the court is selected by popular vote, serving in that office for his or her full six-year term.[10][13]
Vacancies
Should a vacancy occur between regularly scheduled elections, which take place in November of even-numbered years, an interim justice is appointed by the governor. Any justice appointed in this fashion must then stand for election in the next general election occurring at least one year after taking office.[10][14]
The map below highlights how vacancies are filled in state supreme courts across the country.
See also
External links
|
Candidate Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ We calculated confidence scores by collecting several data points such as party registration, donations, and previous political campaigns.
- ↑ The five possible confidence scores were: Strong Democrat, Mild Democrat, Indeterminate, Mild Republican, and Strong Republican.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Alabama Judicial System, "Associate Justice Stewart," accessed June 8, 2021
- ↑ Alabama Votes, "2016 Election Information," accessed May 5, 2016
- ↑ Alabama Votes, "2010 General Election," accessed June 8, 2021
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Sarah Stewart Campaign, “Issues,” accessed December 14, 2023
- ↑ The seven factors were party registration, donations made to partisan candidates, donations made to political parties, donations received from political parties or bodies with clear political affiliation, participation in political campaigns, the partisanship of the body responsible for appointing the justice, and state trifecta status when the justice joined the court.
- ↑ An Indeterminate score indicates that there is either not enough information about the justice’s partisan affiliations or that our research found conflicting partisan affiliations.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Alabama Judicial System, "Qualification of Judges," accessed March 23, 2023
- ↑ Judicial Retirement Laws, "Alabama: Mandatory Retirement Provisions Applicable Generally," accessed August 10, 2021
- ↑ Alabama Secretary of State, "Minimum Qualifications for Public Office," accessed March 23, 2023
- ↑ Justia, "Article VI, Alabama Constitution - Section 152," accessed March 23, 2023
- ↑ Brennan Center for Justice, "Judicial Selection: An Interactive Map," accessed March 23, 2023
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Tom Parker (R) |
Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice 2025-Present |
Succeeded by - |
| Preceded by - |
Alabama Supreme Court 2019-2025 |
Succeeded by Chris McCool (R) |
| Preceded by - |
Alabama 13th Judicial Circuit 2006-2019 |
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
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State of Alabama Montgomery (capital) |
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