Local trial court judicial elections, 2018
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Ballotpedia provides coverage of local trial court elections for judges whose jurisdictions overlap with America's 100 largest cities by population.
As of 2018, local court judges were elected in 26 states, with eight states using partisan elections and 18 states using nonpartisan elections.[1] In 11 other states, at least some of the local judges were elected, with others being selected through assisted appointment, legislative elections, or gubernatorial appointments with advice and consent. Ten states only used assisted appointment, while three states only used legislative elections or gubernatorial appointments.
For the limited number of local judicial elections Ballotpedia covered, 65.9 percent had the same number of candidates running as the number of open seats.
The most noteworthy local judicial election in 2018 was the June 5 recall of Santa Clara County, California Judge Aaron Persky. Persky sentenced Stanford student and swimmer Brock Turner to six months in prison after he was convicted of penetrating an unconscious woman and assault with intent to rape. The victim's impact statement received attention from national media outlets, and the campaign to recall Persky was launched by Stanford professor Michele Dauber, who said Turner's prison sentence was too lenient.
Persky was recalled on June 5 and replaced by Santa Clara County Assistant District Attorney Cindy Seeley Hendrickson, who was endorsed by Dauber. The Persky recall election was the first judicial recall in any state to make the ballot since 1982. The last successful judicial recall in the country was in Wisconsin in 1977, and the last successful judicial recalls in California were in 1932.[2] Read more about the recall here.
Use the dropdown menus in the upper-right tool in order to find information about local trial court elections in your state. Click here for information about state supreme court elections in 2018, and click here for information about state intermediate appellate court elections.
The map below displays the municipal elections covered by Ballotpedia in 2018. Note that not every municipal election in 2018 included local trial court elections.
General election competition in 2018
The graph below shows general election competition in local judicial elections in 2018. For the limited number of elections covered by Ballotpedia, 65.9 percent of local judicial elections had the same number of candidates running as the number of open seats.
As of 2018, Ballotpedia only covered elections for judges whose jurisdictions overlapped with America's 100 largest cities by population, so the information is not comprehensive.
Aaron Persky recall
Santa Clara Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky was recalled on June 5, 2018. Cindy Seeley Hendrickson defeated Angela Storey to replace Persky.
Stanford University law professor Michele Dauber initiated the recall effort in June 2016 on the grounds that Persky was too lenient in his sentencing of Stanford student Brock Turner.
In a case that attracted national attention, Turner was arrested and charged with sexual assault in January 2015 after he was found lying on top of an unconscious woman on Stanford University's campus.[3] Turner was convicted of sexual assault, and Persky sentenced him to six months in jail, three years of probation, and registration as a sex offender. The maximum sentence for the charges was 14 years in person. The victim read an impact statement at his sentencing that was published by news outlets such as Buzzfeed and The Independent. Its publication was the catalyst for Persky's recall.
Recall supporters argued that Turner' sentence was too light and would negatively impact women's safety. Recall opponents argued that Persky acted appropriately during sentencing and that recalling a judge over one decision would violate judicial independence principles.
The recall election ballot had two parts: (1) a question about whether Persky should be recalled and (2) a list of nominees to succeed him.[4] Since a majority of voters voted to recall Persky, the nominee with the most votes, Hendrickson, was elected to the remainder of his term, which was slated to end in 2022.[5]
Persky and the campaign to recall him each submitted a statement to the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters for inclusion on the ballot. Persky and Dauber also each formed a campaign committee: "Retain Judge Persky — No Recall" and the "Committee to Recall Judge Persky," respectively.[6]
The Persky recall election was the first judicial recall in any state to make the ballot since 1982, according to Joshua Spivak of The Recall Elections Blog. The last successful judicial recall in the country was in Wisconsin in 1977, and the last successful judicial recalls in California were in 1932.[7]
Recall results
| Aaron Persky recall, 2018 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Yes |
61.6% | 202,849 |
| No | 38.4% | 126,459 |
| Total Votes | 329,308 | |
| Source: Santa Clara County elections | ||
| Aaron Persky recall (replacement candidate), 2018 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Cindy Seeley Hendrickson |
68.0% | 174,045 |
| Angela Storey | 32.0% | 82,042 |
| Total Votes | 256,087 | |
| Source: Santa Clara County elections | ||
Past elections
In 2017, Ballotpedia covered local judicial elections across seven states. In total, 494 seats were up for election across general and limited jurisdiction trial courts.
In 2016, Ballotpedia covered local judicial elections across 39 states. In total, 3,723 seats were up for election across general and limited jurisdiction trial courts. Incumbents ran for re-election in 3,070 (82.5 percent) of those races and were defeated by challengers 69 (2.2 percent) times. In 2,644 races (71.0 percent), candidates ran unopposed.
See also
- Local courts portal
- Judicial selection in the states
- Judicial elections
- Local courts by county
- State supreme court elections, 2018
- State intermediate appellate court elections, 2018
- Judicial recalls
Footnotes
- ↑ Georgia used nonpartisan elections for all local judicial positions except probate court, so it was counted as one of the 18 nonpartisan states.
- ↑ The Recall Elections Blog, "California: Petitioners hand in 95,000 signatures against Santa Clara Judge Aaron Persky; Likely to be first recall of a judge since 1982," January 11, 2018
- ↑ ABC News, "Judge in Brock Turner assault case to face vote for removal in June," January 24, 2018
- ↑ California Constitution, "Final steps in the recall: Ballots," accessed February 12, 2018
- ↑ California Constitution, "Final steps in the recall: Recall elections," accessed February 12, 2018
- ↑ The Mercury News, "Brock Turner case: Judge launches fight against recall," August 29, 2016
- ↑ The Recall Elections Blog, "California: Petitioners hand in 95,000 signatures against Santa Clara Judge Aaron Persky; Likely to be first recall of a judge since 1982," January 11, 2018
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