Supreme Court Races in Key States Could Tip Scales on Policy Matters
Little noticed but high-stakes elections on the November ballot will be for seats on state supreme courts, where legal precedents will be set on matters such as abortion, election integrity, gun rights, redistricting, and other issues. In 2024, 82 state supreme court seats are to be decided by voters in 33 states and Guam, according to Ballotpedia. Of those, 18 races are partisan, 34 are nonpartisan, and 30 are retention elections, meaning that rather than deciding between two candidates, voters will determine whether a justice typically appointed by a governor will remain on the state’s high court.
Some of the key races include:
In Michigan, where Democrats hold a 4-3 majority on the state’s high court, two Supreme Court seats are being contested. Andrew Fink, a Republican state representative, is running against Kimberly Thomas, a professor at the University of Michigan Law School, for an open seat. Incumbent Supreme Court Judge Kyra Harris Bolden is running to retain her seat against Patrick O’Grady, a state circuit court judge.
In Arizona, voters will determine if two Republican-appointed justices, Clint Bolick and Katheryn Hackett King, will remain on that state’s high court. Political donors are increasingly involved in these races, with more out-of-state money being spent than in the past retention races.
In North Carolina, Republicans have a 5-2 state Supreme Court majority and aim to make it 6-1. Incumbent Judge Allison Riggs, a Democrat, is running against Republican challenger Jefferson Griffin, a state appeals court judge.
These state supreme court races have significant implications for policy matters and are often overlooked by voters, despite their critical impact on state-level decisions.
