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Judges on the Nebraska ballot in November 2026
Nebraska voters see 1 retention question on the November 3, 2026 ballot in the races The Ballot Brief tracks. Retention questions are a yes-or-no vote on keeping a sitting judge; elected seats work like any other race.
Judicial retention votes: yes or no on keeping a judge
Nebraska Court of Appeals
Michael W. Pirtle
Retention: yes or no2nd Judicial District
Pirtle earned his law degree from the University of Nebraska College of Law in 1978 and worked in private practice and as senior staff attorney for American Family Insurance before joining the bench, per his official Nebraska Judicial Branch biography. He has served as Judge of the Nebraska Court of Appeals, 2nd Judicial District, since 2011, and was Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals from 2020 through 2024.
What a yes vote does: keeps the judge for another term; a no vote removes the judge at the end of the term.
How retention votes work
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.
Source: nebraskajudicial.gov, as of 2026-09-15.
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