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State intermediate appellate court elections, 2020

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2020 State
Judicial Elections
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Thirty states heldintermediate appellate court elections in 2020. There were 201 seats up for election out of 976 total seats on intermediate appellate courts.

Twenty-four states held their judicial elections on November 3, 2020. Five states held their judicial elections before that date, and one state held its judicial election after that date.

Intermediate appellate courts serve as an intermediate step between the trial courts and the courts of last resort in a state. Their jurisdiction varies from state to state.

Click here for information on state supreme court elections.Click here for information on local trial court elections.

Overview

States use a variety of methods to elect intermediate appellate court judges. Four states hold partisan elections, three states hold partisan and retention elections, 11 states hold nonpartisan elections, 14 states hold retention elections, and one state, Ohio, has partisan primary elections and nonpartisan general elections. Nine states do not hold elections for intermediate appellate court judges, and eight states do not have intermediate appellate courts.

  • In apartisan election, candidates may be nominated by political parties or declare their party affiliations upon filing to stand in the election. Primaries are typically held to narrow down the candidates to one per party before the general election; some states hold primaries in which candidates of all parties compete with each other and the top vote-getters advance regardless of party.
  • In anonpartisan election, some states require candidates to declare their party affiliations, while some states prohibit them from doing so. If primaries are held, they do not narrow the candidates to one per party; instead, they typically narrow the candidates to two for each seat regardless of party.
  • In aretention election, an incumbent judge does not face an opponent. A question is placed on the ballot asking whether each judge shall be retained for another term, and voters choose "yes" or "no." Judges must receive majority "yes" votes in order to remain in their seats.Click here to learn more about judicial selection methods.

List of elections in 2020

The map and table below detail which states held elections for intermediate appellate court seats in 2020. The darker shade of green a state appears in the map, the more seats were on the ballot. States shown in gray in the map did not hold intermediate appellate court elections in 2020.

2020 State Intermediate Appellate Court Elections
StateSeats up for electionElection methodGeneral election date
Alabama4PartisanNovember 3, 2020
Alaska1RetentionNovember 3, 2020
Arizona11RetentionNovember 3, 2020
Arkansas4NonpartisanMarch 3, 2020
Colorado2RetentionNovember 3, 2020
Florida25RetentionNovember 3, 2020
Georgia5NonpartisanJune 9, 2020
Idaho1NonpartisanMay 19, 2020
Illinois9Partisan andretentionNovember 3, 2020
Indiana6RetentionNovember 3, 2020
Iowa4RetentionNovember 3, 2020
Kansas5RetentionNovember 3, 2020
Kentucky1NonpartisanNovember 3, 2020
Louisiana14PartisanDecember 5, 2020
Maryland4RetentionNovember 3, 2020
Michigan11NonpartisanNovember 3, 2020
Minnesota4NonpartisanNovember 3, 2020
Missouri6RetentionNovember 3, 2020
Nebraska2RetentionNovember 3, 2020
Nevada1NonpartisanNovember 3, 2020
New Mexico4Partisan andretentionNovember 3, 2020
North Carolina5PartisanNovember 3, 2020
Ohio22Nonpartisan general elections andpartisan primariesNovember 3, 2020
Oklahoma4RetentionNovember 3, 2020
Oregon5NonpartisanNovember 3, 2020
Tennessee1RetentionAugust 6, 2020
Texas24PartisanNovember 3, 2020
Utah6RetentionNovember 3, 2020
Washington7NonpartisanNovember 3, 2020
Wisconsin3NonpartisanApril 7, 2020

Election results

Partisan

Six states held partisan general elections for intermediate appellate court seats in 2020.

Partisan election results
StateSeats up for electionIncumbents up for electionIncumbents defeatedPartisan control before electionPartisan control after election
Alabama430Republican Party 4Republican Party 4
Illinois321Democratic Party 3Democratic Party 2
Republican Party 1
Louisiana13100Democratic Party 7
Republican Party 5
Independent 1		Democratic Party 6
Republican Party 4
Independent 3
New Mexico330Democratic Party 3Democratic Party 3
North Carolina532Democratic Party 4
Republican Party 1		Republican Party 5
Texas24156Republican Party 24Democratic Party 8
Republican Party 16

Nonpartisan

Eleven states held nonpartisan general elections for intermediate appellate court seats in 2020.

Nonpartisan election results
StateSeats up for electionIncumbents up for electionIncumbents defeated
Arkansas430
Georgia550
Idaho110
Kentucky110
Michigan11100
Minnesota440
Nevada110
Ohio22165
Oregon550
Washington750
Wisconsin330

Retention

Fifteen states held retention elections for intermediate appellate court seats in 2020.

Retention election results
StateIncumbents up for retentionIncumbents removed from office
Alaska10
Arizona110
Colorado20
Florida230
Illinois60
Indiana60
Iowa40
Kansas50
Maryland40
Missouri40
Nebraska20
New Mexico10
Oklahoma30
Tennessee10
Utah60

Analysis of state elections

See also:Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2020

In November 2020, regular elections were held for 86 of 99 state legislative chambers, plus 11 gubernatorial offices, nine lieutenant gubernatorial offices, 10 attorney general offices, and seven secretary of state offices.

Election analysis

All state elections

Trifectas

State executive elections

State legislative elections

State ballot measures


See also

External links

Footnotes

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2020 State Judicial Elections
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Intermediate appellate court elections by state
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