Supreme Weekly: Looking at the 2010 state Supreme Court elections

January 13, 2011

by Katy Farrell

After the 2010 General Election, most of the news about state Supreme Court elections focused on the unexpected results in Iowa, where three Supreme Court justices were not retained. Perhaps it's because though sixty-four races were decided on election day, only four new justices were elected to the state Supreme Courts. Including the state primaries, only six justices were elected onto the state Supreme Courts during the 2010 election season.

Those were:

• Karen Baker, who won election to the Arkansas Supreme Court in the primary election, after Annabelle Clinton Imber left office;

• Maureen O'Connor, previously an Associate Justice on the Ohio Supreme Court, who defeated incumbent Chief Justice Eric Brown in November;

• Kelli Wise, who succeeds Patricia Smith on the Alabama Supreme Court after she retired;

• Beth Baker, who won election to the Montana Supreme Court following the retirement of William Leaphart;

• Barbara Jackson, who defeated Robert C. Hunter to become the newest justice on the North Carolina Supreme Court; and

• Charlie Wiggins, who narrowly defeated incumbent Richard Sanders for a seat on the Washington Supreme Court.

In the fourteen other contested elections, the incumbents were re-elected.

CONSIDERING THE RETENTION ELECTIONS, of the 32 justices standing for retention, only the three justices in Iowa, Marsha Ternus, David Baker and Michael Streit were not retained.

TWELVE JUSTICES did not garner an opponent in 2010 and were re-elected after running unopposed.

See also

• Judgepedia's Supreme Weekly: The States
• 2010 State Supreme Court elections
• Judicial elections, 2010
• Judicial selection