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2026 Judicial Elections by State: Supreme Court, Appellate and Trial Court Candidates

2,989 candidates in 2,099 tracked judicial races on the November 3, 2026 ballot. Each state's field comes from its certified candidate list; open a race for bios, priorities and campaign sites, or enter your ZIP for your own ballot.

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Judicial retention votes: yes or no on keeping a judge

These judges have no opponent; voters answer yes or no on whether each keeps the seat. Official lists are on file for Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah, Wyoming; other retention states are added as their election offices post the questions.

Florida 23 retention questions · list as of 2026-09-04

Florida uses merit selection and retention for the Supreme Court and District Courts of Appeal: the Governor appoints justices/judges from a list submitted by a Judicial Nominating Commission, and each then faces a statewide (Supreme Court) or district-wide (DCA) yes/no retention vote at the first general election more than one year after appointment, and again near the end of each six-year term. A majority yes vote retains the justice/judge for a new six-year term; if not retained, the seat is filled again through the same nominating-commission process.

Full Florida judges page →

Michigan 17 retention questions · list as of 2026-09-04

Michigan Supreme Court justices are elected statewide to 8-year terms on a nonpartisan general-election ballot; candidates are nominated by political party conventions (or by petition/affidavit for some candidates) but appear on the ballot without party labels. Michigan Court of Appeals judges are elected by district (1st-4th) to 6-year terms on the same nonpartisan basis. For both, the candidates receiving the most votes, up to the number of open seats, are elected (Michigan Constitution Art. VI, Sec. 2 and Sec. 8; see also the Secretary of State's Judicial Elective Office Manual, https://www.michigan.gov/sos/-/media/Project/Websites/sos/Elections/Ballot-Access/FDC-FC-MAN-2-Judicial-Elective-Office-Manual.pdf).

Full Michigan judges page →

Missouri 50 retention questions · list as of 2026-09-04

Missouri uses the Nonpartisan Court Plan: the Governor appoints Supreme Court and Court of Appeals judges (and circuit/associate circuit judges in the plan's designated circuits) from a list submitted by a judicial nominating commission. Each judge's name then appears alone on a separate nonpartisan judicial ballot as a yes/no retention question after roughly one year in office, and again at the end of each term (12 years for Supreme Court and Court of Appeals judges, 6 years for circuit and associate circuit judges in the plan circuits). A majority yes vote retains the judge; if not retained, the seat is filled again through the nominating-commission process.

Full Missouri judges page →

Illinois 131 retention questions · list as of 2026-09-23

Illinois Supreme Court, Appellate Court and Circuit Court judges who are not filling a vacancy run unopposed on a retention ballot (yes or no, no opposing candidate) and need 60 percent yes votes to keep the seat for another term, per the Illinois Constitution. A judge filling a vacancy or an open seat instead runs in a contested partisan election.

Full Illinois judges page →

Arizona 81 retention questions · list as of 2025-10-03

Arizona uses merit selection for the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, and Superior Court judges in counties with population over 250,000 (Maricopa, Pima, Pinal, and Coconino); these judges are appointed by the governor from a judicial nominating commission's list and then stand for a statewide (Supreme Court and Court of Appeals) or countywide (Superior Court) yes/no retention vote, with a majority needed to be retained. The Commission on Judicial Performance Review evaluates each judge and publishes its findings before the vote.

Full Arizona judges page →

Colorado 125 retention questions · list as of 2026-09-23

Colorado Supreme Court and Court of Appeals judges are appointed by the governor from a merit-selection commission's nominees, then stand periodically in nonpartisan, uncontested retention elections; a majority yes vote retains the judge. Supreme Court terms run 10 years and Court of Appeals terms 8 years after the initial term, and the state's Commission on Judicial Performance publishes a retain/do-not-retain recommendation on each judge before the election.

Full Colorado judges page →

Maryland 2 retention questions · list as of 2026-09-23

Maryland Supreme Court and Appellate Court judges are appointed by the governor from a judicial nominating commission's list, confirmed, and then must win a yes-no retention election, typically at the next general election after appointment, to serve a full 10-year term.

Full Maryland judges page →

Utah 1 retention question · list as of 2026-09-15

Utah Supreme Court justices and Court of Appeals judges are appointed by the governor from a nominating commission's list, confirmed by the state Senate, and then stand periodically in nonpartisan, uncontested retention elections; Supreme Court justices are retained every 10 years and Court of Appeals judges every 6 years, each needing a majority yes vote. The Utah Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission reviews and publishes a recommendation on each judge standing for retention before the election.

Full Utah judges page →

Alaska 21 retention questions · list as of 2026-07-30

Alaska Supreme Court and Court of Appeals justices are appointed by the governor from Judicial Council nominees and then face a statewide yes/no retention vote at the first general election at least three years after appointment, and periodically thereafter; a majority yes vote retains the justice.

Full Alaska judges page →

California 64 retention questions · list as of 2026-09-04

California Supreme Court and Court of Appeal justices are appointed by the governor (subject to confirmation by the Commission on Judicial Appointments) and then face a statewide (Supreme Court) or district-wide (Court of Appeal) yes/no retention election at the next general election after appointment, and again every 12 years if reappointed; a majority yes vote retains the justice.

Full California judges page →

Indiana 3 retention questions · list as of 2026-09-15

Indiana Supreme Court and Court of Appeals judges are appointed by the governor from a judicial nominating commission's list, and then stand for an initial yes/no retention vote at the next general election at least two years after appointment; if retained, they stand again at the end of each 10-year term. A majority yes vote retains the judge. No Indiana Supreme Court justice is on the November 2026 ballot; three Court of Appeals judges are.

Full Indiana judges page →

Nebraska 1 retention question · list as of 2026-09-15

Nebraska Supreme Court justices and Court of Appeals judges are appointed by the governor from a nominating commission's list and then must stand for a nonpartisan yes/no retention vote at the next general election after appointment and periodically thereafter; a majority yes vote retains the judge.

Full Nebraska judges page →

New Mexico 3 retention questions · list as of 2026-09-15

A New Mexico appellate judge is first appointed by the governor from a nominating commission's list and must win a contested partisan election at the next general election with enough time before it; after that initial partisan win, the judge stands periodically in a nonpartisan yes/no retention election requiring 57 percent approval to keep the seat.

Full New Mexico judges page →

Oklahoma 5 retention questions · list as of 2026-09-15

Oklahoma Supreme Court, Court of Criminal Appeals, and Court of Civil Appeals judges are first appointed by the governor from a Judicial Nominating Commission's list, then must periodically file a declaration of candidacy to succeed themselves and stand in a nonpartisan yes/no retention election every six years; a majority yes vote retains the judge.

Full Oklahoma judges page →

Wyoming 2 retention questions · list as of 2026-09-15

Wyoming Supreme Court justices are appointed by the governor from a judicial nominating commission's list and, after serving at least one year, must stand for a nonpartisan yes/no retention vote at the next general election; a majority yes vote retains the justice for an eight-year term, with succeeding terms decided the same way. Wyoming has no intermediate court of appeals.

Full Wyoming judges page →

Elected judges by state

These judges are elected like any other office: some seats statewide (a state supreme court), some only inside a court district, and trial judges county by county. Most states run them nonpartisan; Texas, Alabama and a few others list a party. A seat with one name is still on the ballot. Open a state for its full judges page, which groups every court race and explains how the vote works there.

Alabama 58 races · 62 candidates

Full Alabama judges page → · All Alabama races →

Arizona 5 races · 5 candidates

Full Arizona judges page → · All Arizona races →

Arkansas 248 races · 336 candidates

188 more Arkansas races are listed on the county pages linked from the state hub.

Full Arkansas judges page → · All Arkansas races →

California 4 races · 8 candidates

Full California judges page → · All California races →

Florida 20 races · 40 candidates

Full Florida judges page → · All Florida races →

Illinois 74 races · 84 candidates

14 more Illinois races are listed on the county pages linked from the state hub.

Full Illinois judges page → · All Illinois races →

Indiana 70 races · 82 candidates

10 more Indiana races are listed on the county pages linked from the state hub.

Full Indiana judges page → · All Indiana races →

Kansas 41 races · 43 candidates

Full Kansas judges page → · All Kansas races →

Kentucky 308 races · 389 candidates

248 more Kentucky races are listed on the county pages linked from the state hub.

Full Kentucky judges page → · All Kentucky races →

Louisiana 68 races · 171 candidates

8 more Louisiana races are listed on the county pages linked from the state hub.

Full Louisiana judges page → · All Louisiana races →

Maine 7 races · 8 candidates

Full Maine judges page → · All Maine races →

Maryland 9 races · 44 candidates

Full Maryland judges page → · All Maryland races →

Michigan 63 races · 94 candidates

3 more Michigan races are listed on the county pages linked from the state hub.

Full Michigan judges page → · All Michigan races →

Minnesota 122 races · 126 candidates

62 more Minnesota races are listed on the county pages linked from the state hub.

Full Minnesota judges page → · All Minnesota races →

Mississippi 128 races · 166 candidates

68 more Mississippi races are listed on the county pages linked from the state hub.

Full Mississippi judges page → · All Mississippi races →

Missouri 9 races · 9 candidates

Full Missouri judges page → · All Missouri races →

Montana 16 races · 19 candidates

Full Montana judges page → · All Montana races →

New Mexico 48 races · 54 candidates

Full New Mexico judges page → · All New Mexico races →

New York 55 races · 185 candidates

Full New York judges page → · All New York races →

North Carolina 168 races · 192 candidates

108 more North Carolina races are listed on the county pages linked from the state hub.

Full North Carolina judges page → · All North Carolina races →

North Dakota 21 races · 23 candidates

Full North Dakota judges page → · All North Dakota races →

Ohio 97 races · 151 candidates

37 more Ohio races are listed on the county pages linked from the state hub.

Full Ohio judges page → · All Ohio races →

Oklahoma 12 races · 24 candidates

Full Oklahoma judges page → · All Oklahoma races →

Oregon 1 races · 1 candidates

Full Oregon judges page → · All Oregon races →

South Carolina 10 races · 11 candidates

Full South Carolina judges page → · All South Carolina races →

Tennessee 13 races · 29 candidates

Full Tennessee judges page → · All Tennessee races →

Texas 330 races · 505 candidates

270 more Texas races are listed on the county pages linked from the state hub.

Full Texas judges page → · All Texas races →

Vermont 28 races · 50 candidates

Full Vermont judges page → · All Vermont races →

Washington 45 races · 57 candidates

Full Washington judges page → · All Washington races →

Wyoming 21 races · 21 candidates

Full Wyoming judges page → · All Wyoming races →