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State supreme court vacancies, 2026
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Ballotpedia covers vacancies in 52 state supreme courts in the 50 states that have at least one court of last resort. Only Texas and Oklahoma have two courts of last resort, one for civil appeals and one for criminal appeals.
A vacancy occurs when a justice steps down from their seat before their term is regularly scheduled to end. A vacancy may occur due to a retirement, death, elevation to a federal court, ascension to the chief justice position, or any other reason that may cause them to not complete the remainder of their regularly scheduled term. After the announcement that a justice will step down, partial-term selection methods begin to fill the remainder of their term. To learn more about how Ballotpedia defines a vacancy, click here.
Judicial vacancies covered on this page are filled in one of five ways: the governor alone appoints justices, a nominating commission provides the governor a list of potential nominees, the state legislature selects supreme court justices, the state supreme court votes on and appoints justices, or the justice is elected in a special election (both nonpartisan and partisan). Michigan is the only state that uses the Michigan method, where state parties hold nomination conventions to select which candidates will run in a nonpartisan general election. To learn more about judicial selection methods, click here.
- Methodology
- 2026 vacancies
- Selection methods
- Monthly updates
Methodology
Ballotpedia counts a seat as vacant if the outgoing officeholder leaves office before their official term-end date or the incoming officeholder takes office after their official term-start date. If an officeholder takes or leaves office according to their official term-start or -end date, Ballotpedia does not count that as a vacant seat.
2026 vacancies
In 2026, there has been two vacancies in two states. Of the two vacancies, all have occurred in states where the replacement justice will be appointed, not elected. All vacancies were caused by a justice retiring.
The following table contains a comprehensive list of the vacancies that Ballotpedia is covering this year. For a list of states where a regularly scheduled election will occur in 2026, click here.
Below is a table of announced 2026 state supreme court vacancies. The table shows the court in which the vacancy occurred, the date the outgoing justice left office, the reason for the vacancy, and the court's method of selection. When available, the table will show the name of the successor and the date they were appointed or elected to the court. The final two columns will say ‘TBD’ until the successor has been named.
| Court | Vacancy date | Outgoing justice | Vacancy Reason | Selection method | Date vacancy filled | Successor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Supreme Court of Virginia | January 1, 2026 | Bernard Goodwyn | Retired | Legislative election | TBD | TBD |
| Tennessee Supreme Court | June 30, 2026 | Bernard Goodwyn | Retired | Assisted appointment | TBD | TBD |
Selection methods
Click the tabs below to see the various selection methods for state supreme court justices:
- See also: Judicial selection in the states
The map below shows how each state fills full-term vacancies. When a justice vacates their seat near the end of their term, or when a justice serving an unexpired term finishes their term, the following selection methods are used. In states with retention elections, following the conclusion of a justice's first full term, the justice may choose to run in a retention election.
The map below highlights selection methods in state supreme courts across the country.
See also
Use the dropdown menu below to navigate to Ballotpedia's coverage of state supreme court vacancies in other years.
Footnotes
- ↑ Note: Goodwyn's successor will be filled by the Virginia State Legislature.
- ↑ Note: The one vacancy that Ballotpedia tracked in 2026 will be filled by the Virginia State Legislature.
