State of Justice: January 2026 Vacancies and Elections Updates
Vacancies
Delaware Supreme Court justice will retire in July
Justice Karen Valihura notified Gov. Matt Meyer (D) that she will not seek reappointment for her seat on the Delaware Supreme Court. Valihura’s last day on the court will be July 25, 2026. Prospective candidates will apply through the judicial nominating commission. The commission will vet all applicants and send a shortlist of prospective nominees to Meyer for consideration. The Delaware State Senate must confirm Meyer’s nominee. The Delaware Constitution requires that no more than three of the five justices on the court may be from the same political party. Because the retiring justice is a Republican, Meyer’s ultimate pick will likely follow suit.
Gov. DeSantis makes sixth appointment to seven-member Florida Supreme Court
Justice Charles Canady retired from the Florida Supreme Court in early 2026, giving Gov. Ron DeSantis his sixth appointment to the solidly conservative court. To fill Canady’s seat, DeSantis appointed First District Court of Appeal Judge Adam Tanenbaum, his sixth addition to the seven-member court. Among the nominees, Tanenbaum brings some professional diversity to the court, having worked as a public defender and as general counsel for the Florida Department of State and the Florida Department of Legal Affairs. Tanenbaum will need to stand for retention election in 2028 to remain on the court.
Kansas Supreme Court chief justice to retire from the court
Chief Justice Marla Luckert announced her retirement from the court in December 2025. She stepped down as chief justice on January 2, 2026, and was succeeded by then-Justice Eric Rosen. Luckert said she would officially retire from all other duties by early February. Luckert’s retirement gives Gov. Laura Kelly (D) a fifth appointment to the supreme court. The Supreme Court Nominating Commission will have 60 days from the date of Luckert’s retirement to open the application process, hold interviews, and forward a shortlist of three candidates to Kelly. From that list, Kelly will select the final appointee. Of note, Kelly appointed one of the only two movement attorneys appointed to state supreme courts in 2025 with her appointment of Larkin Walsh to the Kansas Supreme Court.
Justices fill temporary vacancy on the Louisiana Supreme Court
President Trump nominated Louisiana Supreme Court Justice William Crain to serve as a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana in late October 2025. The Senate confirmed Crain to the bench on December 9, 2025. Later that month, Judge Allison Penzato was temporarily appointed by the remaining justices to fill Crain’s seat on the bench. Penzato will serve in this position until June 30, 2026, or until the vacancy is filled. According to the state constitution, a special election must be held, and Penzato may not run for the seat.
Vacancies open on the Mississippi Supreme Court after two justices confirmed to federal bench
On September 2, 2025, President Donald Trump (R) nominated two Mississippi Supreme Court justices, Justice Robert Chamberlin and Justice Jimmy Maxwell, to fill vacancies on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi. Chamberlin was first elected to the Mississippi Supreme Court in 2016 and reelected in 2024. Maxwell was appointed to the court in 2015, then elected to full terms on the court in 2016 and 2024. Both Chamberlin and Maxwell were confirmed to lifetime appointments on the U.S. District Court on December 9, 2025. Both resigned from the Mississippi Supreme Court, giving Gov. Tate Reeves (R) his first two opportunities to choose justices of the state’s highest court. The two new justices may serve on the court until 2028 when they may run in the November 2028 general election to fill the remainder of the terms, which both expire in 2032.
Gov. Lee’s supreme court nominee awaiting confirmation by general assembly
Justice Holly Kirby announced she will retire from the Tennessee Supreme Court effective June 30, 2026. Kirby’s retirement gives Gov. Bill Lee (R) the opportunity to appoint a justice to take Kirby’s seat. As of the end of November 2025, the Governor’s Council for Judicial Appointments forwarded three candidates to Lee. On January 22, Lee announced his nomination of Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Kyle Hixson to the supreme court. Hixson has served in his current role since 2022. Prior to becoming a judge, Hixson worked as a deputy district attorney general and as an assistant attorney general. Hixson must be confirmed by the General Assembly to serve on the court.
Elections
One incumbent Alabama Supreme Court justice is challenged and the other uncontested
Two seats on the Alabama Supreme Court, currently held by Justices Brad Mendheim and Greg Shaw, will be on the ballot in 2026. The filing period closed on January 23, 2026. The incumbent justices, both Republicans, filed to run for new six-year terms on the court. No challengers filed to run for Mendheim’s Place 7 seat, and he is presumed to win election to a new term in the general election. Shaw will be challenged for his Place 8 seat by AshLeigh Meyer Dunham, a fertility law and reproductive rights attorney who decided to run for a seat on the state’s highest court following the legal firestorm that was unleashed by the court’s opinion in LePage v. Center for Reproductive Medicine, P.C., a high-profile 2024 decision that gave fertilized embryos in frozen storage by fertility clinics the same legal status as people. Dunham is running as a Democrat, and with only one candidate from each party filing to run for the seat, the May 19 primary was canceled. Shaw and Dunham will face off in the general election on November 3, 2026.
Arkansas Supreme Court justices circumvent the constitution by running for each other’s seats
Two seats on the Arkansas Supreme Court will be on ballots in 2026. Justices Cody Hiland and Nicholas Bronni currently hold the two seats. Hiland was appointed to the court in 2023 and appointed to a different vacant seat on December 20, 2024. Bronni was also appointed to another vacant seat on December 20, 2024. Under the Arkansas Constitution, candidates appointed to fill vacant seats are ineligible to run for election to the remainder of the term. Hiland and Bronni skirted this provision by announcing they intend to run for each other’s seats. Attorney John Adams is challenging Bronni for his seat. The two will face off in a nonpartisan election on March 3, 2026.
Special elections ordered for the Mississippi Supreme Court
After finding the state’s supreme court judicial district map violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Amendment, a federal district court judge ordered the state to redraw the maps that have been in place since 1987. The elections under the new judicial districts would take place in November 2026. The state attorney general and the secretary of state have already appealed the district court’s decision to the Fifth Circuit. The circuit has stayed all proceedings while a challenge to the use of Section 2 of the VRA is currently before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Nevada Supreme Court Chief Justice Herdon and Justice Pickering go unopposed
Two seats on the Nevada Supreme Court will be on the ballot in 2026. Justices Kris Pickering and Douglas Herndon currently occupy the seats. The filing period opened on January 5, 2026, and closed on January 16, 2026. Pickering and Herndon both filed to run for new six-year terms on the court, and no candidates filed to challenge them.
North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Anita Earls to defend her seat
Republican State Representative Sarah Stevens will challenge incumbent Justice Anita Earls for her seat on the North Carolina Supreme Court. Earls has served on the court since her 2018 election and has worked as a civil rights attorney, founding the Southern Coalition for Social Justice. Stevens most recently served as speaker pro tempore of the state house. She worked as a private practice attorney before her election to the state house.
Two West Virginia Supreme Court seats to appear on the 2026 ballot
Justices Tom Ewing and Gerald Titus III’s seats on the West Virginia Supreme Court will be on the ballot in 2026. Ewing and Titus were both appointed to the state’s highest court in 2025 and must run for election to fill the remainder of their terms. One candidate, circuit Judge Todd Kirby, has announced his campaign for Titus’ seat on the court. The election will be held on May 19.
Two appeals court judges to face off for an open seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court
One seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court will be on the ballot in 2026 due to the retirement of Justice Rebecca Bradley. Two Wisconsin Court of Appeals judges filed for the seat. The Democratic Party of Wisconsin supports Judge Chris Taylor, while the Wisconsin GOP supports Judge Maria Lazar. Wisconsin elects its supreme court justices in nonpartisan elections, though political parties can spend unlimited funds in support of candidates. The primary election is scheduled for February 17, 2026, and the two candidates will automatically advance to the general election on April 7, 2026.
