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Supreme Court Justice Position 1: Washington 2026

Colleen Melody and Scott Edwards are on the November 3, 2026 ballot for Supreme Court Justice Position 1 in Washington. This seat is voted statewide, so it is on every Washington ballot.

Colleen Melody Incumbent

Colleen Melody is the sitting justice for Washington Supreme Court Position 1, appointed by Gov. Bob Ferguson in January 2026, per the Washington Courts website. Before joining the court she spent 11 years as chief of the Civil Rights Division in the Washington Attorney General's Office and worked as a trial attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division, per the same source. She is a University of Washington School of Law graduate who clerked for a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, per her official court biography.

Priorities: Keeping the court free from the influence of special interests and political bias, per her campaign site (melodyforjustice.com) · Running a grassroots campaign funded by individual donors rather than special interests, per her campaign site (melodyforjustice.com)

Campaign site · Full profile · Official list

Scott Edwards

Scott Edwards is an attorney who has practiced constitutional, appellate, and state tax law in Washington for about three decades, per his campaign website. He has worked at Bogle & Gates, Perkins Coie, Ballard Spahr, and, since 2025, Lane Powell, and holds an economics degree from Princeton University and a law degree from the University of Washington, per the same source. This is his first run for elected office, per his campaign website.

Priorities: Deciding cases based on the law and the record rather than politics or outside pressure, per his campaign site (votescottedwards.com) · Applying clear, principled legal reasoning to strengthen public confidence in the courts, per his campaign site (votescottedwards.com) · Bringing decades of complex litigation experience to the court, per his campaign site (votescottedwards.com)

Campaign site · Full profile · Official list

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