Selection Snapshots

The executive board of the state Republican Party voted to oppose the retention of three supreme court justices in November.

Iowans for Freedom announced plans for a statewide “NO Wiggins” bus tour that will oppose judicial activism and the retention of one of the seven justices who in 2009 recognized a right to same-sex marriage in the state’s constitution. The state bar is launching its own weeklong bus tour—the “Yes Iowa Justice Tour.”

Though the state’s judicial elections are nonpartisan in the sense that party affiliation does not appear on the ballot, the state Democratic Party endorsed a state representative who is challenging the sitting chief justice.

A Philadelphia-based Tea Party group vowed to challenge the retention of two supreme court justices on the ballot in 2013 if the state’s voter ID law is not in place for the November elections.

Prior to a campaign recess, the U.S. Senate confirmed two of the 17 pending nominees for federal district court vacancies. Fourteen of the 17 nominees received unanimous approval from the senate judiciary committee.

Over the last year, the percentage of women serving on the state’s courts has risen from 36.1 percent to 38.2 percent. Nationwide, women hold 27.5 percent of state court judgeships.

In a 2-1 ruling, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit blocked a Montana state law barring political party endorsements of judicial candidates.

All 18 judges up for retention in Pima County Superior Court received generally high scores by the Arizona Commission on Judicial Performance, with most scoring higher than 85 percent in all categories. Judges in Pima and Maricopa counties (and state appellate judges) must stand for periodic retention by voters.

A circuit court judge rejected a challenge to the ballot summary for a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow the governor to name an additional member of the commission that nominates potential appellate judges and increase the required number of nominees from three to four.

The cast of "West Wing" has reunited to film two short web videos, urging voters to participate in nonpartisan state supreme court elections. One video specifically plugs Michigan Supreme Court candidate Bridget Mary McCormack while the other is a geared toward a more national audience.