On Election Day, November 8, 2016:
- 27 states will have elections for their high court for a total of 65 seats
- 24 seats are contested, meaning there are multiple candidates vying for a seat.
- 13 seats are uncontested (does not include retention elections)
- 28 seats will be decided through retention elections
Of those 27 states:
- 12 states will have nonpartisan elections for 25 available seats
- Contested nonpartisan elections will take place for 16 seats
- Uncontested nonpartisan elections will take place for at least 9 seats
- 4 states will have partisan elections for 12 available seats
- Contested partisan elections will take place for 8 seats
- Uncontested partisan elections will take place for 4 seats
- 12 states will have retention elections for 28 seats
Note: New Mexico is holding both a partisan election and a retention election, thus it has been counted twice in this breakdown, but only once in the overall sum of 27 states holding elections this fall.
In addition, 6 states held high court elections previously this year, for a total of 10 seats.
Of those 6 states:
- 5 states held nonpartisan elections for 7 seats
- Contested nonpartisan elections took place for 4 seats
- Uncontested nonpartisan elections took place for 3 seats
- 1 state held a retention election for 3 seats
Note: This total includes Oregon, which held an election for two seats earlier this year, but which will also be holding an election for one seat on November 8.
By then end of 2016, 32 states will have held elections for their high courts, for a total of 75 seats.