Montana judicial elections, 2014

Montana judicial elections, 2014
Overview
Total candidates:	27
Primary candidates:	11
General election candidates:	24
Incumbency
Incumbents:	17
Incumbent success rate:	94%
Competition - general election
Percent of candidates in contested races:	58%
Percent uncontested:	0%
Percent retention:	42%

2015 → ← 2013
Judicial Elections
Judicial elections, 2014
Judicial election dates
Candidates by state
Supreme court elections

The Montana judicial elections in 2014 featured two supreme court races and five contested trial court races. In the six races where incumbents faced challenges to their seats, all the incumbents won.

Ten judges faced a retention election, and all were retained. Montana judges in 2014 received an average retention rate of 85.9%, which was the highest of all the states that had retention elections in 2014 (see: JP Election Brief: 2014 retention report).

See: Montana elections summary, 2014.

Election dates

• March 10: Filing deadline
• June 3: Primary
• November 4: General election

In addition to candidate lists, this page includes information about how the state's judicial elections work, as well as articles about noteworthy news in races across the state.

Want to learn more about the biggest judicial elections in Montana? Check out the Montana Supreme Court elections, 2014 page for an in-depth exploration of the candidates, issues, politics and news surrounding the state's high court races.

General election: Contested races

(I) denotes incumbent

Supreme Court, Seat 1

• James Rice (I), 78%A
• W. David Herbert, 22%A

Supreme Court, Seat 2

• Lawrence VanDyke, 41%A
• Michael E. Wheat (I), 59%A

7th District Court, Dept. 2

• Janet Christoffersen, 49%A
• Katherine M. Bidegaray (I), 51%A

13th District Court, Dept. 5

• Rod Souza, 55.4%A
• William J. Speare, 44.6%A

20th District Court, Dept. 1

• James Manley (I), 62%A
• Mark Russell, 37%A

Boulder Justice Court, Seat 1

• Cynthia R. Burns, 34.7%A
• Dennis H. Giulio (I), 65.2%A

Cascade County Justice Court, Seat 1

• Eric Bailey, 40%A
• Mary Jolley (I), 60%A

Retentions

The following judges faced a retention election in order to keep their seat. In such elections, the incumbent judge is not being evaluated against an opponent. Rather, he or she simply receives votes of "yes" to retain or "no", do not retain.

Trial courts

Court	Judge	Votes
Click the arrows in the column headings to sort columns alphabetically.
Montana 8th Judicial District Court	Dirk M. Sandefur	88.7%A
Montana 13th Judicial District Court	Gregory R. Todd	82.8%A
Montana 21st Judicial District Court	James A. Haynes	79.7%A
Montana 1st Judicial District Court	Kathy Seeley	85.3%A
Montana 16th Judicial District Court	Michael Hayworth	82.5%A
Montana 18th Judicial District Court	Mike Salvagni	87.2%A

Primary

For candidate lists and results from the judicial primary on June 3, 2014, please see: Montana judicial primary elections, 2014.

Process

Nonpartisan elections

In the primary, the two candidates who receive the greatest number of votes advance to the general election. If only two candidates file for one judicial seat, both candidates advance to the general election.

Note: A federal court in 2012 struck down Montana's law that elections be nonpartisan, allowing political parties to legally endorse or oppose candidates. For more information, see: Montana judicial elections, "Federal court mandates partisan elections".

Retentions

If an incumbent is running unopposed and no challengers advance to the general election, the incumbent judge will appear on the ballot for retention.

The ballot for a retention election reads: "Shall (insert title of officer) (insert name of the incumbent officer) of the (insert title of the court) of the state of Montana be retained in office for another term?" Voters must then answer with either "Yes" or "No".

Noteworthy events

The following articles were current as of the dates listed.

Montana Supreme Court candidate is back on the ballot August 7, 2014

Click for story→

See also: JP Election Brief: Pricey retention campaigns in Tennessee and Florida candidates in the news Lawrence VanDyke, a Montana state solicitor, filed to run against incumbent Justice Michael E. Wheat for a seat on the Montana Supreme Court in 2014. However, he was determined to be ineligible to run for office by District Judge Mike Menahan in April. VanDyke had been on inactive status with the Montana Bar from 2007 to 2012, while he was practicing law in another state. Because Montana's supreme court candidates must be admitted to practice law in the state for at least five years, there was a question as to whether or not VanDyke's time away from Montana could be counted towards this requirement. His bar status in Montana had been active from 2005 to 2007 and from 2013 onwards. Judge Menehan ruled that, because of VanDyke's time out-of-state, he did not meet the five-year requirement for practicing law in Montana. The Montana Supreme Court disagreed. In a 4-3 decision on July 22, 2014, the court ruled that VanDyke may run for election to that same court, after all. Justice Beth Baker wrote: “ VanDyke has paid his (license) tax and received his certificate from the clerk of this court for each year since his admission... His admission was not conditional and has not been terminated, suspended or subjected to any form of probation or other disciplinary action at any time. VanDyke did, by voluntary action, choose not to engage in the practice of law in Montana, selecting inactive membership for a period of approximately six years. But he did not resign or surrender his license or his admission to the bar was not withdrawn. In short, he has never been ‘un-admitted.’ ” Justice Wheat, who faced VanDyke in November, recused himself and was replaced by Dan Boucher, a district judge. Justices Baker, McKinnon and Rice, as well as Judge Boucher, comprised the majority. Justices McGrath and Shea also recused themselves. Their replacements, two district judges, joined Justice Cotter in her dissent.

VanDyke not eligible to run April 28, 2014

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Lawrence VanDyke filed to run for a position on the Montana Supreme Court against incumbent Michael E. Wheat in the November 2014 election. However, on April 25, 2014, Judge Mike Menahan ordered him to be removed from the ballot for failing to meet eligibility requirements. Montana Supreme Court candidates must be admitted to practice law in the state for at least five years. VanDyke was admitted to practice in Montana in 2005, but went on inactive bar status from 2007 to 2012 while practicing in another state. He regained active status in early 2013. By the time of the November 2014 election, Judge Menahan found, Van Dyke would have only been an active member of the Montana State Bar for a total of three years and three months. Judge Menahan explained: “ Although the parties have cited numerous out-of-state authority to assist in the analysis of the question, this court’s conclusion rests largely upon the plain language of the Montana Constitution and the constitution and by-laws of the State Bar of Montana. ” —Judge Mike Menahan Following the ruling, VanDyke stated: “ This case has been brought by Mike Wheat campaign donors to eliminate the competition by lawsuit. We will appeal to the Supreme Court and fully expect Justice Wheat and Chief Justice (Mike) McGrath to recuse themselves since they are both prominent donors to his re-election campaign. ” —Lawrence VanDyke

Court must decide if candidate is qualified to run April 3, 2014

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See also: JP Election Brief: Who's qualified? Courts, candidates and special interest groups all want a say Ahead of the 2014 race for the Montana Supreme Court, candidate Lawrence VanDyke will be challenged in court by five delegates to Montana's 1972 Constitutional Convention. The lawsuit, filed in Helena, arose with respect to VanDyke's eligibility. The plaintiffs claimed that VanDyke was not eligible to run for the seat because he did not have the mandatory five years of "active" status with the state bar. Attorney Gene Jarussi, who represented the delegates, explained to MTN News that VanDyke was on "inactive" status until mid-2013, though he had been a member of the bar since 2005. He went on to say, “ If you're on active status, then you can practice before the court, you can draft deeds, you can draft wills, and you are obligated to attend continuing legal education each year. If you're on inactive status, you have no obligation to keep current on the law...you're just simply a member of the bar, and your dues reflect that accordingly. ” —Gene Jarussi VanDyke himself said that he met the legal requirements for candidacy, and that his name should remain on the ballot. He responded to the lawsuit with a petition to the Montana Supreme Court, requesting that the high court take control of the case.

Laws conflict over partisan endorsements for Montana judicial elections March 20, 2014

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See also: JP Election Brief: Controversy around judicial election laws A ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2012 allowed for partisan endorsements of judicial candidates in Montana for the first time in 77 years. In February 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a petition to reinstate the ban on such endorsements. In September 2012, the federal court ruled that banning political organizations from endorsing judicial candidates amounted to an unconstitutional restriction of free-speech. However, in the 2012 supreme court race between Ed Sheehy and Laurie McKinnon, the candidates agreed not to accept any partisan endorsements. Acceptance of such endorsements would have violated the state's Code of Judicial Conduct, which states that judicial candidates may not "seek, accept, or use endorsements from a political organization." In 2014, two state supreme court seats were up for election. Justice James Rice ran against W. David Herbert, and Justice Michael Wheat ran against Lawrence VanDyke. Though the race was still considered nonpartisan, both justices have served in partisan legislative positions in the past. Justice Rice was a Republican state representative and Justice Wheat was a Democratic state senator. As for their opponents, Herbert was a Libertarian candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2008, running to represent Wyoming. VanDyke at the time of the 2014 election served as a Montana's solicitor general and his partisan affiliation was unknown.

VanDyke is eligible to run July 2014	Click for story→
The Montana Supreme court ruled 4-3 to overturn Menahan's decision. Although VanDyke's name appeared on the November 2014 ballot as a candidate for supreme court justice, he lost to incumbent Wheat.

See also

• Montana judicial elections
• Judicial selection in Montana
• Courts in Montana

External links

• Montana Secretary of State, "Elections"

Footnotes

Montana courts

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Federal courts:

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: District of Montana • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: District of Montana

State courts:

Montana Supreme Court • Montana District Courts • Montana Courts of Limited Jurisdiction • Montana Water Court • Montana Workers' Compensation Court

State resources:

Courts in Montana • Montana judicial elections • Judicial selection in Montana