State of Justice: April Vacancies and Elections Updates
Vacancies
Longest-serving member of New Hampshire Supreme Court announces August retirement
New Hampshire Supreme Court Justice James Bassett announced he would retire on August 31, 2025, approximately one year before he reaches the state’s mandatory retirement age of 70 in September of 2026. Bassett joined the court in 2012 after being appointed by then Gov. John Lynch (D). He worked in private practice for nearly 30 years before his appointment to the state’s highest court, specializing in civil and commercial litigation, land use, and First Amendment issues. He is the court’s longest-serving justice and the only justice currently serving on the court who was not appointed by former Gov. John Sununu (R). Gov. Kelly Ayotte (R) will appoint Bassett’s replacement, and the state’s Executive Council will be required to approve the nominee. Four Republicans and one Democrat currently serve on the Executive Council. Bassett’s eventual replacement will be Ayotte’s first appointment to the state’s high court. It is unclear when Ayotte will announce her choice to replace Bassett on the court.
Vermont Supreme Court justice stepping down from the court in August
Vermont Supreme Court Associate Justice Karen Carroll announced she will retire from the court in August of 2025. Carroll was appointed to the court in 2017 by Gov. Phil Scott (R) and retained by voters in 2023. She was previously a judge of the Vermont Superior Court. Before joining the bench, she worked as an assistant state attorney general, a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Vermont, and a deputy county prosecutor. Her impending retirement will give Scott his fourth appointment to the five-member court. Scott will appoint Carroll’s replacement from a pool of candidates vetted by the state’s judicial nominating board, and the state senate must confirm the finalist. The new justice may remain on the court until 2029, when they must stand for a retention election alongside the other four court members.
Virginia General Assembly confirms replacement for retiring chief justice
The Virginia General Assembly confirmed Virginia Court of Appeals Judge Junius P. Fulton III to become the next Virginia Supreme Court associate justice when Chief Justice S. Bernard Goodwyn retires from the court on January 1, 2026. Fulton has served on the Court of Appeals since its expansion in 2021. He has previously served as a judge of the Norfolk Circuit Court since 1996, where he helped to create a drug court that he also presided over for more than 20 years. Justices of the Virginia Supreme Court are elected to a 12-year term on the court by majority vote of both chambers of the General Assembly. The seven court members will select the court’s next chief justice.
West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals justice to leave court in June
West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth Walker notified Gov. Patrick Morrissey (R) that she will retire in June 2025. Walker was first elected to the court in May 2016, defeating incumbent Justice Brent Benjamin. When she was sworn into her 12-year term on January 1, 2017, women became a majority on the five-member court for the first time in the state’s history. Walker was previously the associate general counsel for the West Virginia United Health System and worked in private practice for over 20 years on labor and employment matters before her election to the court. Walker was the only justice acquitted by the state Senate in the 2018 impeachment of the entire court by the House of Delegates, following a spending scandal that saw three justices resign from the court – two of whom later pled guilty or were convicted of federal charges of wire fraud, mail fraud, and witness tampering – with a fourth justice spared from a Senate trial after the Appeals Court, sitting as the Supreme Court, issued an injunction. Walker went on to serve as chief justice of the court in 2019 and 2023. Morrissey will appoint Walker’s replacement on the court from a pool of between two and five candidates furnished by the Judicial Vacancy Advisory Commission no later than July 18, 2025. The governor will make an appointment no later than August 17, 2025. The new justice may serve on the court until at least December 31, 2028, and must stand for retention election in May of 2028 to remain on the court.
Elections
Lone candidate to file for Louisiana Supreme Court vacancy will be the court’s newest justice
Following the Louisiana Supreme Court’s redistricting of its judicial districts, state tax Judge Cade Cole ran unopposed and won without having to appear on the ballot. Cade is a Republican and member of the Federalist Society, and at 42, he is the youngest person to serve on the court. After law school, Cade began his career as a clerk for Justice Jeannette Knoll on the state supreme court. He then entered private practice focused on business and tax litigation before serving as assistant district attorney and city attorney for Sulphur and Vinton. Cade also served as a DeQuincy city magistrate. Cade has launched his campaign to run for a full term on the court in 2026.
Montana Supreme Court justice won’t seek third term on the court
Montana Supreme Court Justice Beth Baker announced she will not seek reelection to the Montana Supreme Court in 2026. That same day, former supreme court candidate Dan Wilson announced he will run for election to Baker’s seat. Wilson was a candidate in the 2024 state supreme court election. Wilson, backed by conservative interest groups, lost to now-Justice Katherine Bidegaray, the progressive-backed candidate. In a press release announcing his candidacy, he vowed to follow conservative values on the court. Wilson is currently a judge on the Flathead County District Court.
Challenger seeking to throw out votes in North Carolina Supreme Court election concedes
The last uncertified contest from the 2024 election cycle nationwide has finally reached its conclusion, with North Carolina Court of Appeals Judge Jefferson Griffin conceding the race to incumbent North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Allison Riggs following more than six months of Griffin’s efforts to disenfranchise voters and overturn the results of an election that he lost by 734 votes. The concession came after a federal court ruling that ordered the state’s board of elections to certify the race. Griffin has spent the past six months challenging over 65,000 votes that were cast largely from areas of the state with high concentrations of Democratic voters. Griffin challenged the certification of the race in state court, with Riggs then challenging his attempt to disenfranchise properly cast votes in federal court. Riggs, who was previously a voting rights attorney and a court of appeals judge, will be sworn in to an eight-year term on the court.
Three justices to run for retention to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court
Three Democratic justices on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court will be up for retention election this November. The justices will be put on the ballot with a yes or no and are not listed with a party affiliation, though the justices are elected to their first term by partisan election. After the conclusion of the most expensive judicial race in the country’s history in Wisconsin last month, donors and activists are now turning their attention to Pennsylvania. Democrats currently hold a 5-2 majority on the court, making an ideological shift on the court possible. The court has delivered several impactful decisions around COVID-19, redistricting, abortion access, and mail-in ballots. A prominent conservative activist has already promised to launch a “no” campaign against the retention of the three justices and has hired several staffers in the state.
Progressive candidate prevails in Wisconsin Supreme Court election
Dane County Judge Susan Crawford, the progressive-backed candidate for an open seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, sailed to an early victory over former attorney general Brad Schimel (R) with 54.8% and 45.2% of the vote, respectively. Crawford’s win secured progressives’ control of the bench until at least 2027. The April election for the Wisconsin Supreme Court set a new record for the most expensive judicial race in the country’s history, with over $107 million spent on the election. Large Republican and Democratic donors flooded the state, with one of the most high-profile conservative donors being Elon Musk, who poured over $24 million into his failed effort to seat Schimel on the court. Crawford will be sworn into a 10-year term on the court on August 1.
