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State intermediate appellate court elections, 2020
| 2020 State Judicial Elections | |
|---|---|
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Thirty states held intermediate appellate court elections in 2020. There were 201 seats up for election out of 976 total seats on intermediate appellate courts.
Twenty-four states held their judicial elections on November 3, 2020. Five states held their judicial elections before that date, and one state held its judicial election after that date.
Intermediate appellate courts serve as an intermediate step between the trial courts and the courts of last resort in a state. Their jurisdiction varies from state to state.
Click here for information on state supreme court elections. Click here for information on local trial court elections.
Overview
States use a variety of methods to elect intermediate appellate court judges. Four states hold partisan elections, three states hold partisan and retention elections, 11 states hold nonpartisan elections, 14 states hold retention elections, and one state, Ohio, has partisan primary elections and nonpartisan general elections. Nine states do not hold elections for intermediate appellate court judges, and eight states do not have intermediate appellate courts.
- In a partisan election, candidates may be nominated by political parties or declare their party affiliations upon filing to stand in the election. Primaries are typically held to narrow down the candidates to one per party before the general election; some states hold primaries in which candidates of all parties compete with each other and the top vote-getters advance regardless of party.
- In a nonpartisan election, some states require candidates to declare their party affiliations, while some states prohibit them from doing so. If primaries are held, they do not narrow the candidates to one per party; instead, they typically narrow the candidates to two for each seat regardless of party.
- In a retention election, an incumbent judge does not face an opponent. A question is placed on the ballot asking whether each judge shall be retained for another term, and voters choose "yes" or "no." Judges must receive majority "yes" votes in order to remain in their seats. Click here to learn more about judicial selection methods.
List of elections in 2020
The map and table below detail which states held elections for intermediate appellate court seats in 2020. The darker shade of green a state appears in the map, the more seats were on the ballot. States shown in gray in the map did not hold intermediate appellate court elections in 2020.
| 2020 State Intermediate Appellate Court Elections | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| State | Seats up for election | Election method | General election date |
| Alabama | 4 | Partisan | November 3, 2020 |
| Alaska | 1 | Retention | November 3, 2020 |
| Arizona | 11 | Retention | November 3, 2020 |
| Arkansas | 4 | Nonpartisan | March 3, 2020 |
| Colorado | 2 | Retention | November 3, 2020 |
| Florida | 25 | Retention | November 3, 2020 |
| Georgia | 5 | Nonpartisan | June 9, 2020 |
| Idaho | 1 | Nonpartisan | May 19, 2020 |
| Illinois | 9 | Partisan and retention | November 3, 2020 |
| Indiana | 6 | Retention | November 3, 2020 |
| Iowa | 4 | Retention | November 3, 2020 |
| Kansas | 5 | Retention | November 3, 2020 |
| Kentucky | 1 | Nonpartisan | November 3, 2020 |
| Louisiana | 14 | Partisan | December 5, 2020 |
| Maryland | 4 | Retention | November 3, 2020 |
| Michigan | 11 | Nonpartisan | November 3, 2020 |
| Minnesota | 4 | Nonpartisan | November 3, 2020 |
| Missouri | 6 | Retention | November 3, 2020 |
| Nebraska | 2 | Retention | November 3, 2020 |
| Nevada | 1 | Nonpartisan | November 3, 2020 |
| New Mexico | 4 | Partisan and retention | November 3, 2020 |
| North Carolina | 5 | Partisan | November 3, 2020 |
| Ohio | 22 | Nonpartisan general elections and partisan primaries | November 3, 2020 |
| Oklahoma | 4 | Retention | November 3, 2020 |
| Oregon | 5 | Nonpartisan | November 3, 2020 |
| Tennessee | 1 | Retention | August 6, 2020 |
| Texas | 24 | Partisan | November 3, 2020 |
| Utah | 6 | Retention | November 3, 2020 |
| Washington | 7 | Nonpartisan | November 3, 2020 |
| Wisconsin | 3 | Nonpartisan | April 7, 2020 |
Election results
Partisan
Six states held partisan general elections for intermediate appellate court seats in 2020.
| Partisan election results | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | Seats up for election | Incumbents up for election | Incumbents defeated | Partisan control before election | Partisan control after election |
| Alabama | 4 | 3 | 0 |  4 |
4
|
| Illinois | 3 | 2 | 1 |  3 |
2 1
|
| Louisiana | 13 | 10 | 0 | 7 5  1 |
6 4 3
|
| New Mexico | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
3
|
| North Carolina | 5 | 3 | 2 | 4 1 |
5
|
| Texas | 24 | 15 | 6 | 24 |
8 16
|
Nonpartisan
Eleven states held nonpartisan general elections for intermediate appellate court seats in 2020.
| Nonpartisan election results | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| State | Seats up for election | Incumbents up for election | Incumbents defeated |
| Arkansas | 4 | 3 | 0 |
| Georgia | 5 | 5 | 0 |
| Idaho | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Kentucky | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Michigan | 11 | 10 | 0 |
| Minnesota | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| Nevada | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Ohio | 22 | 16 | 5 |
| Oregon | 5 | 5 | 0 |
| Washington | 7 | 5 | 0 |
| Wisconsin | 3 | 3 | 0 |
Retention
Fifteen states held retention elections for intermediate appellate court seats in 2020.
| Retention election results | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| State | Incumbents up for retention | Incumbents removed from office | |
| Alaska | 1 | 0 | |
| Arizona | 11 | 0 | |
| Colorado | 2 | 0 | |
| Florida | 23 | 0 | |
| Illinois | 6 | 0 | |
| Indiana | 6 | 0 | |
| Iowa | 4 | 0 | |
| Kansas | 5 | 0 | |
| Maryland | 4 | 0 | |
| Missouri | 4 | 0 | |
| Nebraska | 2 | 0 | |
| New Mexico | 1 | 0 | |
| Oklahoma | 3 | 0 | |
| Tennessee | 1 | 0 | |
| Utah | 6 | 0 | |
Analysis of state elections
In November 2020, regular elections were held for 86 of 99 state legislative chambers, plus 11 gubernatorial offices, nine lieutenant gubernatorial offices, 10 attorney general offices, and seven secretary of state offices.
Election analysis
All state elections
- Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection report
- Noteworthy recounts in the United States
- Incumbent win rates by state
- Results of state elected officials seeking other offices, 2020
- Analysis of rejected ballots in the 2020 general election
- Analysis of ballot curing in the 2020 general election
- Analysis of voter turnout in the 2020 general election
- Ballotpedia's Top 15 elections to watch, 2020
- Split-ticket voting in statewide elections in 2018 and 2020
- Trends in the margins of victory for incumbents of three or more terms, 2018-2024
Trifectas
- State government trifectas in the 2020 elections
- Historical and potential changes in trifectas
- Trifecta vulnerability in the 2020 elections
- Presidential election results by trifecta status
- Gubernatorial and presidential split-ticket states
State executive elections
- Partisan balance of governors
- State government triplexes
- Annual State Executive Competitiveness Report, 2020
- States with both gubernatorial and U.S. Senate elections in 2020
State legislative elections
- Number of state legislators by party
- Annual State Legislative Competitiveness Report: Vol. 10, 2020
- Effect of the 2020 elections on redistricting
- Rematches in 2020 general elections
- State legislative veto-proof majorities
- State legislative battleground chambers, 2020
- Veto-proof state legislatures and opposing party governors in the 2020 elections
- Races decided by fewer than 100 votes
- Margin of victory analysis for the 2020 state legislative elections
- State legislative seats flipped
- State legislative special election changes in party control since 2010
- State legislative chambers that changed party control
- State legislative seats that changed party control
- Comparison of state legislative election and session dates, 2020
State ballot measures
- Ballot Measure Scorecard, 2020
- Ballotpedia's Tuesday Count for 2020
- Ballotpedia's top 15 ballot measures to watch on Nov. 3
See also
- Judicial selection in the states
- State judicial elections, 2020
- State supreme court elections, 2020
- Local trial court judicial elections, 2020
- State executive official elections, 2020
- State legislative elections, 2020
External links
Footnotes
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