State judicial elections, 2025
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|---|---|
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A total of 15 appellate court seats were up for election in 2025. The seats included:
- 5 supreme court seats
- 10 intermediate appellate court seats
Ballotpedia provided coverage ofsupreme court andintermediate appellate court elections, as well aslocal trial court elections for judges within the100 largest cities in the United States as measured by population.
On this page, you will find:
- Information onthe different methods of selecting judges
- Information onthe different types of courts
- Alist of state intermediate appellate court elections in 2025
- Alist of state supreme court elections in 2025
- Information onincumbent win rates among state supreme court justices
State supreme court offices up for election in 2025
- See also:State supreme court elections, 2025
Click the tabs below to view information about the elections this year. In this section, you will find:
- A list of seats up for election
- A list of candidates running
- Ballotpedia's Sample Ballot Lookup Tool
The following states held an election for a state supreme court seat in 2025.
| State | Seats up for election | Election dates | Election method |
|---|---|---|---|
| Louisiana | 1 | May 3, 2025 | Partisan |
| Pennsylvania | 3 | November 4, 2025 | Partisan |
| Wisconsin | 1 | April 1, 2025 | Nonpartisan |
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection
Noteworthy elections
Pennsylvania
ThreePennsylvania Supreme Court justices —Christine Donohue (D),Kevin M. Dougherty (D), andDavid N. Wecht (D) — wereretained in three elections held on November 4, 2025.
WHYY's Carmen Russell-Sluchansky wrote, "State judicial elections typically garner little attention, but Pennsylvania’s 2025 state Supreme Court races are shaping up to be the next major political battleground."[1]
The state court had a 5-2 Democratic majority.[2] At the time of the election, the court had been controlled by Democrats since2015, when Donohue, Dougherty, and Wecht won election to their seats.[3]
Pennsylvania usedpartisan elections to select a justice for an initial 10-year term, and used aretention election to determine whether to keep them. If a justice was retained, they would serve another 10-year term. At the time of the election, Pennsylvania was one of eight states to usepartisan elections for the initial selection of a justice and one of 22 to useretention elections for the renewal of a term.
According to Pennsylvania's Code of Judicial Conduct, justices were limited in their ability to campaign.[4] Both the Democratic and Republican parties said they would be involved in this race. TheRepublican State Leadership Committee ran ads on social media asking voters to vote against retaining the justices, which said, "In 2024, we voted by mail and flipped Pennsylvania red. This year, radical liberal judges are trying to secure another decade of power. We need you to stop them, show up again, vote 'no' in November."[5] TheDemocratic National Committee announced on September 25 that they would invest six figures in the final weeks of the race, and Democratic politicians including Gov.Josh Shapiro (D), Sen.Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), and Rep.Chris Deluzio (D) campaigned in favor of retention.[6][7]
Since retention elections were established in 1968, only one Pennsylvania justice, Russell Nigro (D) in 2005, was not retained.[8] Since 2020, in 102 elections, 100 justices (98%) won retention. The most recent justice in the U.S. to not win retention wasYvonne Kauger in Oklahoma in2024.
Wisconsin
Susan Crawford defeatedBrad Schimel in the nonpartisan general election for a 10-year term on theWisconsin Supreme Court on April 1, 2025.[9][10] Incumbent JusticeAnn Walsh Bradley did not run for re-election. The filing deadline was January 7, 2025. The primary scheduled for February 18, 2025, was canceled after only two candidates filed to run.
Wisconsin’s Supreme Court elections are officiallynonpartisan, but candidates often take stances on specific issues and receive backing from the state's political parties during their campaigns. The state’sDemocratic Party endorsed Crawford, and Schimel was the former Republicanattorney general.
With Crawford's win, liberals retained a 4-3 majority on the court. Liberals first won a 4-3 majority in theApril 2023 election, when JudgeJanet Protasiewicz won an open seat, defeatingDaniel Kelly 55.4% to 44.4% shifting ideological control of the court for the first time in 15 years.[11]
Crawford was a judge on theDane County Circuit Court. She previously worked as an attorney for the state attorney general’s office and as legal counsel to former Gov.James Doyle (D).[12] Crawford said she ran to "protect the basic rights and freedoms of Wisconsinites under our constitution."[13] She said she would focus on safety when making decisions: "I believe people in Wisconsin deserve to feel safe as they go about their lives . . . My top priority in making decisions is always to make our communities safer."[14] Crawford campaigned on keeping the current balance on the court intact, and said, "For the first time in years, we have a majority on the court focused on getting the facts right, following the law, and protecting our constitutional rights. We can’t risk having that progress reversed."[15] In addition to the state Democratic Party, JusticesAnn Walsh Bradley,Rebecca Dallet,Jill Karofsky, andJanet Protasiewicz — who local media outlets described as the court’s four liberal justices — also endorsed Crawford.[16][17]
Schimel was a judge on theWaukesha County Circuit Court and was the state’s attorney general from 2015 to 2019. Schimel said he ran to "restore confidence in the people of Wisconsin that the justice system will be fair and impartial. I will be honest about my principles, but will never prejudge a case."[18] Schimel’s website said he "dedicated his career to defending victims, supporting law enforcement, and ensuring that criminals are held accountable."[19] Schimel criticized the court for "impos[ing] on the people of this state their will, rather than impartial judgment based on the law." He campaigned on changing the balance of the court and said, "There is no check on this new liberal Supreme Court majority. . . . The only check on them is to take back the majority by winning in 2025.”[20] PresidentDonald Trump (R) and the Wisconsin Professional Police Association received Schimel.[21][22]
According toWisPolitics, the candidates and satellite groups spent more than $100 million on the race.[23][24][25]This surpassed the2023 election as the most expensive judicial race in U.S. history. According toWisPolitics, candidates and satellite groups spent more than $56 million in the 2023 election.[26][27][28] As of March 24, Crawford raised $21.8 million and spent $21.4 million, and Schimel raised $10 million and spent $9.5 million.Click here to learn more about spending in this race.
Media outlets covering the race wrote that the outcome could affect rulings on issues such as the state’s abortion laws, union rules, and theredistricting process.[29] University of Wisconsin-Madison professor Barry Burden said, "I think the Supreme Court races have become as important as any other race in the state. It’s become the one election that really decides the direction of the state."[30]
Targeted races
DLCC targets
TheDemocratic Legislative Campaign Committee announced they would target the following state supreme court races in 2025:[31]
State intermediate court offices up for election in 2025
Click the tabs below to view information about the elections this year. In this section, you will find:
- A list of seats up for election
- A list of candidates running
- Ballotpedia's Sample Ballot Lookup Tool
The following states held elections for intermediate appellate court seats in 2025.
| State | Seats up for election | Election dates | Election method |
|---|---|---|---|
| Louisiana | 1 | May 3, 2025 | Partisan |
| Pennsylvania | 4 | November 4, 2025 | Partisan and retention |
| Washington | 2 | November 4, 2025 | Nonpartisan |
| Wisconsin | 3 | April 1, 2025 | Nonpartisan |
Judicial selection methods
- See also:Judicial selection in the states
Methods of judicial selection vary substantially across the United States.[32] Though each state has a unique set of guidelines governing how they fill their state and local judiciaries, there arefive main methods. Two methods are primarily election-based; three methods are primarily appointment-based.
Election-based methods
- Partisan elections: Judges are elected by the people, and candidates are listed on the ballot alongside a label designating political party affiliation.
- Nonpartisan elections: Judges are elected by the people, and candidates are listed on the ballotwithout a label designating party affiliation.
Appointment-based methods
- Gubernatorial appointment: Judges are appointed by the governor. In some cases, approval from the legislative body is required.
- Assisted appointment, also known asmerit selection or theMissouri Plan: A nominating commission reviews the qualifications of judicial candidates and submits a list of names to the governor, who appoints a judge from the list. After serving an initial term, judges typically run in a yes-noretention election to remain on the court.[33] At the state supreme court level, this selection method is further divided into three types.Click here to learn more.
- Legislative elections: Judges are selected by the state legislature.
States may apply more than one of the five methods across different levels of courts. For example, a state may choose its appellate court judges byassisted appointment while choosing its trial court judges inpartisan elections. Some states may even select judges of thesame court level differently depending on the population of an area or local opinion.[32][33] States may also modify any of the systems above in their own way. Theassisted appointment method, in particular, comes in a variety of forms. For instance, some statesrequire the governor to choose from the commission's list of nominees, while in other states the list is only a suggestion.[32]
Types of courts
Depending on your state, judges from several different types of courts may appear on the ballot, each with different jurisdictions. There are four types of courts, listed here in ascending order of jurisdiction:
- Limited jurisdiction courts
- General jurisdiction courts
- Intermediate appellate courts
- Courts of last resort
Limited jurisdiction courts
Limited jurisdiction is a term used to describe courts with legal authority restricted to specific subjects, cases, or persons. Examples of limited jurisdiction courts include family courts, traffic courts, probate courts, and military courts.[34] Forty-six states have limited jurisdiction courts.Washington, D.C., and four states (California,Illinois,Iowa, andMinnesota) do not have such courts.[35] Rather, theirgeneral jurisdiction courts are assigned cases that might normally have been given to a limited jurisdiction court.
General jurisdiction courts
General jurisdiction is a term used to describe courts that do not have limits on the type of cases they can hear. Cases typically originate in general jurisdiction courts, and their decisions can be appealed tointermediate appellate courts. All 50 states andWashington, D.C., have general jurisdiction courts. General jurisdiction courts are sometimes referred to as trial courts or district courts.
Intermediate appellate courts
Intermediate appellate courts, as their name suggests, 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.
Forty-two states have at least one intermediate appellate court. Some states have more than one of these types of courts. For example, Alabama has one intermediate appellate court forcivil matters and another forcriminal matters. Pennsylvania'ssuperior court andcommonwealth court are both appellate courts but have different jurisdictions. Other states, such asIllinois andCalifornia, have multiple divisions of intermediate appellate courts with varying degrees of independence from each other. Intermediate appellate courts are sometimes called courts of appeal.
Courts of last resort
- See also:State supreme court elections, 2025
A statecourt of last resort is the highest judicial body within a jurisdiction's court system. It is a court with the highest appellate authority, meaning that its rulings are not subject to review by any other court in the state. A court of last resort is often, but not always, referred to as asupreme court.[36]
All 50 states andWashington, D.C., have at least one court of last resort. Oklahoma and Texas both have two courts of last resort, one for civil appeals and one for criminal appeals.
Incumbent win rates
Click the tabs below to view information about incumbent win rates in state supreme court elections over time. In this section, you will find:
- Win rates by year
- Win rates in partisan elections
- Win rates in nonpartisan elections
- Win rates in retention elections
- Win rates by state
Across all types of state supreme court elections,incumbent justices running for re-election won92% of the time from 2008 to 2025. The year when the most incumbents lost was 2024, when eight incumbents did not win re-election. The year with the lowest re-election rate was 2015, when out of two justices, onlyone (50%) was re-elected. In years where more justices were running, the year with the lowest re-election rate was 2024, when85% of justices were re-elected..
| Election year | Total incumbent elections | Incumbent elections won | Incumbent elections lost | Incumbent win rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 100% |
| 2024 | 72 | 64 | 8 | 85% |
| 2023 | 0 | — | — | — |
| 2022 | 78 | 75 | 3 | 94% |
| 2021 | 0 | — | — | — |
| 2020 | 70 | 65 | 5 | 92% |
| 2019 | 0 | — | — | — |
| 2018 | 59 | 53 | 6 | 87% |
| 2017 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 100% |
| 2016 | 65 | 62 | 3 | 95% |
| 2015 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 50% |
| 2014 | 73 | 71 | 2 | 98% |
| 2013 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 100% |
| 2012 | 68 | 63 | 5 | 90% |
| 2011 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 100% |
| 2010 | 68 | 62 | 6 | 93% |
| 2009 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 100% |
| 2008 | 63 | 57 | 6 | 90% |
| TOTAL | 630 | 585 | 45 | 92% |
Historical election data
There were 1,610 state judicial elections held from 2016 to 2024.
| Year | Court of last resort seats | Intermediate appellate court seats | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 83 | 221 | 304 |
| 2023 | 2 | 13 | 15 |
| 2022 | 84 | 298 | 384 |
| 2021 | 1 | 14 | 15 |
| 2020 | 78 | 201 | 279 |
| 2019 | 3 | 14 | 17 |
| 2018 | 68 | 244 | 312 |
| 2017 | 4 | 17 | 21 |
| 2016 | 76 | 189 | 265 |
| Total | 399 | 1,211 | 1,610 |
Courts of last resort
Retention
From 2016 to 2024, retention elections took place for 53 judicial seats on courts of last resort. All but two of those judges were retained.
Non-retention
There were 246 non-retention elections held from 2016 to 2024, with 153 races contested (62.2%). Incumbents ran for re-election 74.7% of the time. Of the incumbents who ran for re-election, 87.4% won re-election.
The table below is organized by year and includes the total number of seats up for election, the number of contested seats, the number and percentage of incumbents who sought re-election, the number and percentage of incumbents who faced opposition, and the number and percentage of incumbents who won another term.
| Year | Total seats | Seats contested | Incumbents who sought re-election | % incumbents who sought re-election | Incumbents who faced opposition | % incumbents who faced opposition | Incumbents who were re-elected | % incumbents who were re-elected |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 54 | 26 | 42 | 77.8% | 17 | 40.5% | 35 | 83.3% |
| 2023 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
| 2022 | 48 | 30 | 34 | 70.8% | 21 | 61.8% | 32 | 94.1% |
| 2021 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.0% | 0 | 0.0% | 0 | 0.0% |
| 2020 | 49 | 37 | 41 | 83.7% | 29 | 70.7% | 36 | 87.8% |
| 2019 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0.0% | 0 | 0.0% | 0 | 0.0% |
| 2018 | 45 | 25 | 34 | 75.6% | 19 | 55.9% | 28 | 82.4% |
| 2017 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 100% | 1 | 50.0% | 2 | 100% |
| 2016 | 42 | 28 | 31 | 73.8% | 17 | 54.8% | 28 | 90.3% |
| Total | 246 | 153 | 184 | 74.8% | 104 | 56.5% | 161 | 87.5% |
Intermediate appellate courts
Retention
From 2016 to 2024, retention elections took place for 510 judicial seats on intermediate appellate courts. All were retained.
Non-retention
There were 701 non-retention elections from 2016 to 2024, with 297 races contested (42.4%). Incumbents ran for re-election 81.7% of the time. Of the incumbents who ran for re-election, 84.0% won re-election.
The table below is organized by year and includes the total number of seats up for election, the number of contested seats, the number and percentage of incumbents who sought re-election, the number and percentage of incumbents who faced opposition, and the number and percentage of incumbents who won another term.
| Year | Total seats | Seats contested | Incumbents who sought re-election | % incumbents who sought re-election | Incumbents who faced opposition | % incumbents who faced opposition | Incumbents who were re-elected | % incumbents who were re-elected |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 142 | 61 | 116 | 81.7% | 40 | 34.5% | 90 | 77.6% |
| 2023 | 11 | 3 | 7 | 63.6% | 1 | 14.3% | 6 | 85.7% |
| 2022 | 148 | 51 | 114 | 77.0% | 29 | 25.4% | 103 | 90.4% |
| 2021 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 50.0% | 3 | 60.0% | 3 | 60.0% |
| 2020 | 117 | 57 | 93 | 79.5% | 37 | 39.8% | 84 | 90.3% |
| 2019 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 50.0% | 0 | 0.0% | 5 | 100.0% |
| 2018 | 142 | 69 | 112 | 78.9% | 44 | 39.3% | 82 | 73.2% |
| 2017 | 16 | 11 | 6 | 37.5% | 3 | 50.0% | 4 | 66.7% |
| 2016 | 105 | 33 | 85 | 81.0% | 20 | 23.5% | 79 | 92.9% |
| Total | 701 | 297 | 543 | 77.5% | 177 | 32.6% | 456 | 84.0% |
Noteworthy events
Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Ann Walsh Bradley announces retirement (April 2024)
On April 11, 2024,Wisconsin Supreme Court JusticeAnn Walsh Bradley announced she would not seek a fourth 10-year term in 2025. At the time of her announcement, Bradley said, “I know I can do the job and do it well. I know I can win re-election, should I run. But, it's just time to pass the torch, bringing fresh perspectives to the court.”[37] Bradley last ran for re-election in 2015, defeating Jame Daley 58.1% to 41.9%.
The Washington Post's Patrick Marley wrote that the retirement "sets the stage for an intense race for control of the court two years after candidates, political parties and interest groups spent more than $50 million in the most expensive judicial race in U.S. history."[38]
WhileWisconsin Supreme Court elections are officially nonpartisan, justices and candidates are considered to be liberal or conservative. The court’s 15-year conservative majority tightened in three elections preceding Bradley's announcement. The 2019 election resulted in conservatives gaining a 5-2 majority, and the 2020 election resulted in a 4-3 conservative majority. In the 2023 election,Janet Claire Protasiewicz defeated Daniel Kelly 55.4% to 44.4%, resulting in liberals gaining a 4-3 majority on the court.
Bradley was part of the court’s liberal majority, and her retirement created an opportunity in the 2025 election for conservatives to regain a 4-3 majority or for liberals to hold their majority. Conservatives will defend seats in 2026 and 2027, meaning if they do not win a majority in 2025, the next opportunity they have to do so would be the 2028 election.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑Penn Capital Star, "With three seats on the ballot, this year’s state Supreme Court race may be ‘a different animal’," March 3, 2025
- ↑Politico, "Democrats expand majority on PA Supreme Court," November 7, 2023
- ↑WESA, "Voters Give Dems Control Of Pennsylvania Supreme Court," November 3, 2015
- ↑Pennsylvania Code, "CHAPTER 33. CODE OF JUDICIAL CONDUCT," accessed November 15, 2025
- ↑The Keystone, "Billionaire-backed group trying to flip control of PA Supreme Court," August 14, 2025
- ↑Democratic Party, "DNC Announces Initial Six-Figure Investment in Pennsylvania Democratic Party Ahead of Critical Election to Retain PA Supreme Court Justices," September 25, 2025
- ↑Politico, "Pennsylvania’s high-stakes retention election," October 14, 2025
- ↑PoliticsPA, "DLCC Adds PA State Supreme Court Race to Target Map," accessed August 14, 2025
- ↑New York Times, "Wisconsin Spring Election Results," accessed April 1, 2025
- ↑Decision Desk HQ, "2025 Wisconsin General," accessed April 1, 2025
- ↑Wisconsin Public Radio, "Crawford, Schimel set to square off in another high-profile Wisconsin Supreme Court race," January 8, 2025
- ↑CBS News, "Susan Crawford, who represented Planned Parenthood, enters Wisconsin Supreme Court race," June 10, 2024
- ↑WKOW-TV, "Dane County Circuit Judge Susan Crawford announces campaign for Wisconsin Supreme Court," June 10, 2024
- ↑Wisconsin Public Radio, "Dane County Judge Susan Crawford running for Wisconsin Supreme Court," June 10, 2024
- ↑Associated Press, "Liberal Judge Susan Crawford enters race for Wisconsin Supreme Court with majority at stake," June 10, 2024
- ↑Wisconsin Public Radio, "All 4 liberal justices back Crawford’s Wisconsin Supreme Court campaign," June 17, 2024
- ↑Wisconsin Watch, "Another pivotal Wisconsin Supreme Court election offers two familiar outcomes," January 6, 2025
- ↑Dryden Wire, "Brad Schimel Announces Campaign For Wisconsin Supreme Court," November 30, 2023
- ↑Brad Schimel 2025 campaign website, "About Brad," accessed January 7, 2025
- ↑Dryden Wire, "Brad Schimel Announces Campaign For Wisconsin Supreme Court," November 30, 2023
- ↑Brad Schimel 2025 campaign website, "Endorsements," accessed March 11, 2025
- ↑Associated Press, "Trump backs Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate in hotly contested race," March 21, 2025
- ↑WisPolitics, "FRI REPORT: WisPolitics tally: Supreme Court race spending tops $100M, nearly doubling previous record," March 28, 2025
- ↑Associated Press, "Billionaires Musk and Soros push Wisconsin Supreme Court race spending over $100M," April 4, 2025
- ↑New York Times, "Rallying Anti-Musk Donors, Liberal Judge Raises $24 Million in Key Court Contest," March 24, 2025
- ↑WisPolitics, "WisPolitics tally shows record $59 million dropped on Supreme Court race so far," March 12, 2025
- ↑Washington Post, "Expensive court race will decide future of abortion in Wisconsin," April 2, 2023
- ↑Associated Press, "Ad wars begin in closely watched Wisconsin Supreme Court race," January 13, 2025
- ↑The Hill, "Wisconsin tees up high-stakes Supreme Court race with partisan control on the line," November 24, 2024
- ↑Democracy Docket, "What To Watch for in Pivotal Wisconsin Supreme Court Race," June 17, 2024
- ↑Bluesky, "The Downballot on February 25, 2025," accessed February 27, 2025
- ↑32.032.132.2American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection," archived February 2, 2015
- ↑33.033.1American Bar Association, "Judicial Selection: The Process of Choosing Judges," June 2008
- ↑US Legal, "Limited Jurisdiction Law & Legal Definition," accessed December 17, 2015
- ↑National Center for State Courts, "Limited Jurisdiction Courts—Challenges, Opportunities, and Strategies for Action," accessed September 23, 2015
- ↑U.S. Legal, "Court of last resort Definition," accessed August 25, 2013
- ↑Wisconsin Supreme Court, "Press Release," April 11, 2024
- ↑The Washington Post, "Wisconsin Supreme Court liberal won’t run again, shaking up race for control," April 11, 2024
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