State supreme courts — and the elections determining who sits on them — are attracting more attention than ever. Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which largely shifted abortion battles to the states, judicial elections are increasingly shattering spending records and giving the appearance of any other battleground election in terms of campaign rhetoric.
This year alone, 33 states will hold elections for 82 seats on their highest courts. In fact, voters have already cast ballots in this year’s first supreme court elections — Alabama, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Texas all held contests on Super Tuesday to decide who sits on their high courts or who will run in November general elections, and Illinois and Ohio will vote later this month. As always, this year’s judicial races include a mix of partisan and nonpartisan contested elections, as well as retention elections, in which judges do not have an opponent but face an up-or-down vote where voters choose whether or not to give them an additional term.
Some of these races have the potential to reshape court majorities, and with them the rights of people who live in the state, while others will go by uncontested or uncompetitive. Here are the races we will be watching most closely between now and November for their potential impact on state constitutional law.
