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

1,652 candidates in 1,116 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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Statewide retention questions

Appellate judges who face a yes-or-no vote to keep their seats. 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.

Florida judicial questions on the state hub →

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).

Michigan judicial questions on the state hub →

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.

Missouri judicial questions on the state hub →

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

Illinois Supreme Court and Appellate Court justices are elected in partisan elections to 10-year terms; at the end of a term, an incumbent who wishes to continue may file for a nonpartisan yes/no retention vote instead of running in a partisan race, and needs three-fifths (60%) of the vote to be retained.

Illinois judicial questions on the state hub →

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.

Arizona judicial questions on the state hub →

Colorado 6 retention questions · list as of 2026-09-15

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.

Colorado judicial questions on the state hub →

Maryland 1 retention question · list as of 2026-09-06

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.

Maryland judicial questions on the state hub →

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.

Utah judicial questions on the state hub →

Alaska 1 retention question · 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.

Alaska judicial questions on the state hub →

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.

California judicial questions on the state hub →

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.

Indiana judicial questions on the state hub →

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.

Nebraska judicial questions on the state hub →

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.

New Mexico judicial questions on the state hub →

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.

Oklahoma judicial questions on the state hub →

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.

Wyoming judicial questions on the state hub →

Elected judges by state

Alabama 40 races · 44 candidates

All Alabama races →

Arizona 5 races · 5 candidates

All Arizona races →

Arkansas 113 races · 155 candidates

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

All Arkansas races →

California 4 races · 8 candidates

All California races →

Florida 16 races · 32 candidates

All Florida races →

Illinois 11 races · 16 candidates

All Illinois races →

Indiana 67 races · 79 candidates

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

All Indiana races →

Kansas 33 races · 33 candidates

All Kansas races →

Kentucky 182 races · 245 candidates

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

All Kentucky races →

Louisiana 53 races · 136 candidates

All Louisiana races →

Maine 1 races · 1 candidates

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Maryland 9 races · 45 candidates

All Maryland races →

Michigan 57 races · 83 candidates

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Minnesota 1 races · 2 candidates

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Mississippi 9 races · 15 candidates

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Missouri 9 races · 9 candidates

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Montana 1 races · 1 candidates

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New York 7 races · 13 candidates

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North Carolina 75 races · 88 candidates

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

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Ohio 95 races · 149 candidates

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

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South Carolina 10 races · 11 candidates

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Tennessee 13 races · 29 candidates

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Texas 270 races · 404 candidates

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

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Vermont 2 races · 7 candidates

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Washington 12 races · 21 candidates

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Wyoming 21 races · 21 candidates

All Wyoming races →