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State supreme court retention election results, 1990-present

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Thirty-eight states, require state supreme court justices to run for re-election including 20 states that use retention elections.

Retention elections are not an initial selection method. Instead, they are used in combination with another initial selection method. Retention elections are most frequently used with assisted appointment selection methods, though certain states with partisan or nonpartisan elections also use retention elections for subsequent terms. The majority required for retention is 50% in every state except Illinois, where the requirement is 60%.

Since 1990, justices have won retention 98% of the time. As of November 2025, Pennsylvania was the most recent state to hold retention elections. All three justices won retention with over 64% of the vote. The most recent defeat happened in Oklahoma, where Justice Yvonne Kauger lost retention in 2024.

This page examines retention elections dating back to 1990 in each state that holds them. It shows how many justices won retention, how turnout has changed from 1990 to the present, and the average percentage a justice wins retention by, with comparisons from state to state.

HIGHLIGHTS
  • Only nine justices have lost retention elections. Iowa voted out three justices, the most of any state.
  • Justices in Maryland had the highest average “Yes” vote rate (84.9%). Justices in Alaska had the lowest average (61.6%).
  • The year with the highest average percentage received by justices was in 2004 (74.3%). The lowest percentage received overall was in 2005 (51.5%), while the even year with the lowest average percentage received was 1994 (66.3%).

    • To learn more about state supreme court elections, click here. To learn more about judicial elections in all 50 states, click here.

    States that use retention elections

    The map below highlights selection methods in state supreme courts across the country, in those states that have retention as a valid selection method.


    Retention election results analysis, 1990-present

    The following section features tables and maps comparing retention vote metrics across states that hold these elections.

    The following map shows the average percentage a justice received in each state.



    The following chart shows the average percentage of votes a justice received in each state, as well as the average percentage of "yes" votes received across all states.

    Retention elections by state, 1990-present

    Click on the following tabs to see the results of retention elections in each state since 1990. A bolded name and result means the justice was not retained. At the bottom of each chart is the number of elections in that period, the number of justices, the partisan count of justices in applicable states, and the average % of victory for a justice in each state.

    Alaska Supreme Court retention results, 1990-2024
    YearJusticeVotes receivedTotal VotesPercentage
    1990Warren Matthews110,036168,93365.14%
    1994Allen Compton119,089185,24664.29%
    1998Robert Eastaugh127,794196,82564.93%
    2000Alexander Bryner138,749226,09661.37%
    2000Dana Fabe130,620228,80357.09%
    2000Warren Matthews134,657221,46360.80%
    2002Walter Carpeneti130,566195,68366.72%
    2008Robert Eastaugh172,440271,38463.54%
    2010Dana Fabe126,885233,40954.36%
    2012Daniel Winfree165,777255,33064.93%
    2014Craig Stowers146,829233,36362.92%
    2016Joel Bolger157,225271,66557.87%
    2016Peter J. Maassen154,304268,50957.47%
    2020Susan Carney200,598318,25863.03%
    2024Dario Borghesan159,319262,86060.61%
    2024Jennifer S. Henderson156,819260,73860.14%
    16 elections13 justices  Average %: 61.58%

    See also

    Select your state from the dropdown menu or map below to navigate to relevant judicial selection.

    http://ballotpedia.org/Judicial_selection_in_STATE

    Footnotes

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