State intermediate appellate court elections, 2028

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As of research conducted in 2025, twenty-six states are holding intermediate appellate court elections in 2028. There are 149 seats on intermediate appellate courts up for election. The number of seats up for election may change due to resignations and appointments. More information about these elections will be added here once election dates and filing schedules are made available.

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.

In addition, in the U.S. Territories, seven intermediate appellate court judges will be on the ballot in retention elections in 2028. Five judges on the Guam Superior Court and two on the Northern Mariana Islands Superior Court must stand for retention to remain on the bench.

Click here for information on state supreme court elections. Click here for information on local trial court elections.

For information on intermediate appellate court elections happening this year, click here.

Explore Ballotpedia's coverage of these elections:

On the ballot
A list of elections and candidates on the ballot
Read more
Selection methods
A description of the different selection methods
Read more

On the ballot

Click the tabs below to view information about the elections this year. In this section, you will find:

A list of seats up for election
A list of candidates running
Ballotpedia's Sample Ballot Lookup Tool

Seats up for election

List of candidates

What's on your ballot?

The following states are holding elections for intermediate appellate court seats in 2028. This list is subject to change if judges retire or are appointed.

2028 state intermediate appellate court elections
State	Seats up for election	Election method
Alaska	1	Retention
Arizona	7	Retention
Arkansas	4	Nonpartisan
Colorado	3	Retention
Florida	27	Retention
Georgia	3	Nonpartisan
Idaho	1	Nonpartisan
Illinois	4	Partisan and retention
Indiana	1	Retention
Iowa	2	Retention
Louisiana	5	Partisan
Maryland	2	Retention
Michigan	7	Nonpartisan
Minnesota	6	Nonpartisan
Missouri	2	Retention
Nebraska	5	Retention
Nevada	3	Retention
New Mexico	2	Retention
North Carolina	5	Partisan
Ohio	26	Partisan
Oklahoma	4	Retention
Oregon	5	Nonpartisan
Texas	16	Partisan
Washington	4	Nonpartisan
West Virginia	1	Nonpartisan
Wisconsin	3	Nonpartisan

The table below contains a list of all candidates are running running for state intermediate appellate courts in 2028. The table is fully searchable by candidate, party and candidacy status. Depending on the size of your screen, you'll either see a menu to the left of the table or an arrow at the top right corner, which you can use to select a state.

Alaska Court of Appeals Candidates - 2028
candidate	party	office	status
No candidates available for this race		Alaska Court of Appeals (Retention election)

Arizona Court of Appeals Candidates - 2028
candidate	party	office	status
No candidates available for this race		Arizona Court of Appeals Division One (Retention election)

Arkansas Court of Appeals Candidates - 2028
candidate	party	office	status
No candidates available for this race		Arkansas Court of Appeals District 2 Position 2
No candidates available for this race		Arkansas Court of Appeals District 4 Position 1
No candidates available for this race		Arkansas Court of Appeals District 4 Position 2
No candidates available for this race		Arkansas Court of Appeals District 5

Colorado Court of Appeals Candidates - 2028
candidate	party	office	status
No candidates available for this race		Colorado Court of Appeals (Retention election)

Georgia Court of Appeals Candidates - 2028
candidate	party	office	status
No candidates available for this race		Georgia Court of Appeals

Idaho Court of Appeals Candidates - 2028
candidate	party	office	status
No candidates available for this race		Idaho Court of Appeals

Indiana Court of Appeals Candidates - 2028
candidate	party	office	status
No candidates available for this race		Indiana Court of Appeals 2nd District (Retention election)

Iowa Court of Appeals Candidates - 2028
candidate	party	office	status
No candidates available for this race		Iowa Court of Appeals (Retention election)

Michigan Court of Appeals Candidates - 2028
candidate	party	office	status
No candidates available for this race		Michigan 1st District Court of Appeals 2 seats
No candidates available for this race		Michigan 2nd District Court of Appeals
No candidates available for this race		Michigan 3rd District Court of Appeals 2 seats
No candidates available for this race		Michigan 4th District Court of Appeals 2 seats

Minnesota Court of Appeals Candidates - 2028
candidate	party	office	status
No candidates available for this race		Minnesota Court of Appeals District 5
No candidates available for this race		Minnesota Court of Appeals District 10
No candidates available for this race		Minnesota Court of Appeals District 11
No candidates available for this race		Minnesota Court of Appeals District 16
No candidates available for this race		Minnesota Court of Appeals District 17
No candidates available for this race		Minnesota Court of Appeals District 19

Missouri Court of Appeals Candidates - 2028
candidate	party	office	status
No candidates available for this race		Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District (Retention election)

Nebraska Court of Appeals Candidates - 2028
candidate	party	office	status
No candidates available for this race		Nebraska Court of Appeals District 1 (Retention election)
No candidates available for this race		Nebraska Court of Appeals District 3 (Retention election)
No candidates available for this race		Nebraska Court of Appeals District 4 (Retention election)
No candidates available for this race		Nebraska Court of Appeals District 5 (Retention election)
No candidates available for this race		Nebraska Court of Appeals District 6 (Retention election)

Nevada Court of Appeals Candidates - 2028
candidate	party	office	status
No candidates available for this race		Nevada Court of Appeals Department 1
No candidates available for this race		Nevada Court of Appeals Department 2
No candidates available for this race		Nevada Court of Appeals Department 3

New Mexico Court of Appeals Candidates - 2028
candidate	party	office	status
No candidates available for this race		New Mexico Court of Appeals (Retention election)

North Carolina Court of Appeals Candidates - 2028
candidate	party	office	status
No candidates available for this race		North Carolina Court of Appeals Seat 4
No candidates available for this race		North Carolina Court of Appeals Seat 5
No candidates available for this race		North Carolina Court of Appeals Seat 6
No candidates available for this race		North Carolina Court of Appeals Seat 7
No candidates available for this race		North Carolina Court of Appeals Seat 13

Ohio Court of Appeals Candidates - 2028
candidate	party	office	status
No candidates available for this race		Ohio Eighth District Court of Appeals
No candidates available for this race		Ohio Eleventh District Court of Appeals
No candidates available for this race		Ohio Fifth District Court of Appeals
No candidates available for this race		Ohio First District Court of Appeals
No candidates available for this race		Ohio Fourth District Court of Appeals
No candidates available for this race		Ohio Ninth District Court of Appeals
No candidates available for this race		Ohio Second District Court of Appeals
No candidates available for this race		Ohio Seventh District Court of Appeals
No candidates available for this race		Ohio Sixth District Court of Appeals
No candidates available for this race		Ohio Tenth District Court of Appeals
No candidates available for this race		Ohio Third District Court of Appeals
No candidates available for this race		Ohio Twelfth District Court of Appeals

Oklahoma Court of Appeals Candidates - 2028
candidate	party	office	status
No candidates available for this race		Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals District 1 (Retention election)
No candidates available for this race		Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals District 1 Office 1 (Retention election)
No candidates available for this race		Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals District 3 Office 1 (Retention election)
No candidates available for this race		Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals District 3 Office 2 (Retention election)
No candidates available for this race		Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals District 4 Office 1 (Retention election)

Oregon Court of Appeals Candidates - 2028
candidate	party	office	status
No candidates available for this race		Oregon Court of Appeals Position 3
No candidates available for this race		Oregon Court of Appeals Position 5
No candidates available for this race		Oregon Court of Appeals Position 8
No candidates available for this race		Oregon Court of Appeals Position 10
No candidates available for this race		Oregon Court of Appeals Position 11

Texas Court of Appeals Candidates - 2028
candidate	party	office	status
No candidates available for this race		Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Place 2
No candidates available for this race		Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Place 5
No candidates available for this race		Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Place 6
No candidates available for this race		Texas Eleventh District Court of Appeals Place 3
No candidates available for this race		Texas Fifth District Court of Appeals Place 4
No candidates available for this race		Texas Fifth District Court of Appeals Place 7
No candidates available for this race		Texas First District Court of Appeals Chief Justice
No candidates available for this race		Texas Fourteenth District Court of Appeals Place 2
No candidates available for this race		Texas Fourteenth District Court of Appeals Place 9
No candidates available for this race		Texas Fourth District Court of Appeals Place 6
No candidates available for this race		Texas Ninth District Court of Appeals Place 2
No candidates available for this race		Texas Second District Court of Appeals Place 3
No candidates available for this race		Texas Seventh District Court of Appeals Place 4
No candidates available for this race		Texas Sixth District Court of Appeals Chief Justice
No candidates available for this race		Texas Sixth District Court of Appeals Place 3
No candidates available for this race		Texas Tenth District Court of Appeals Place 3
No candidates available for this race		Texas Third District Court of Appeals Place 4
No candidates available for this race		Texas Thirteenth District Court of Appeals Place 3
No candidates available for this race		Texas Twelfth District Court of Appeals Place 2

Washington Court of Appeals Candidates - 2028
candidate	party	office	status
No candidates available for this race		Washington Court of Appeals Division I District 1
No candidates available for this race		Washington Court of Appeals Division II District 1
No candidates available for this race		Washington Court of Appeals Division II District 3
No candidates available for this race		Washington Court of Appeals Division III District 2

West Virginia Court of Appeals Candidates - 2028
candidate	party	office	status
No candidates available for this race		West Virginia Intermediate Court of Appeals Division 3

Wisconsin Court of Appeals Candidates - 2028
candidate	party	office	status
No candidates available for this race		Wisconsin Court of Appeals District II
No candidates available for this race		Wisconsin Court of Appeals District III
No candidates available for this race		Wisconsin Court of Appeals District IV

Judicial selection methods

See also: Judicial selection in the states

States use a variety of methods to elect intermediate appellate court judges.

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.

To learn more about judicial selection methods, click here.