State of Justice: May 2026 Vacancies and Elections Updates
Vacancies
Kansas Supreme Court Nominating Commission announces shortlist of candidates
On May 21, the Kansas Supreme Court Nominating Commission announced the three finalists it will send to Gov. Laura Kelly (D). The nominating commission interviewed seven total applicants to fill the seat being vacated by retiring Justice Marla Luckert. The three finalists are Judge Carl Folsom, Judge K. Christopher Jayaram, and Judge Robert Wonnell. Folsom has served as a district court judge since 2022. Prior to the bench, he worked as an assistant federal public defender for the District of Kansas and the Northern and Eastern Districts of Oklahoma, as a private practice attorney, and as an appellate defender for the Kansas Appellate Defender’s Office. Jayaram has served as a district court judge since 2021 and worked as a private practice attorney. Wonnell has served as a district court judge since 2015 and previously worked as a private practice attorney. All interviews can be watched here.
New Hawaii chief justice sworn into court
Earlier this May, Chief Justice Vladimir Devens was sworn in as the court’s newest chief justice. Hawaii Gov. Josh Green elevated, at the time, Justice Devens to fill retired Chief Justice Mark Recktenwald’s seat on the court. Recktenwald’s seat has remained open since October 2025, and the state’s judicial nominating commission had to extend the application deadline twice. Green chose from a list of five candidates sent to him by the Judicial Selection Commission. Devens’ elevation creates another vacancy on the court to be filled.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz makes two more historic appointments to supreme court
On May 19, Gov. Tim Walz (D) elevated Associate Justice Theodora Gaïtas to serve as the Minnesota Supreme Court’s next chief justice when the current head of the court, Chief Justice Natalie Hudson, retires from the court later this year. Gaïtas spent the majority of her career as a public defender, representing the most vulnerable individuals in our legal system. To fill the vacancy created by Gaïtas’ elevation to chief justice, Walz appointed Second Judicial District Court Judge Reynaldo Aligada Jr. to serve as the Minnesota Supreme Court’s newest associate justice. Before he joined the bench, Aligada worked as an assistant federal defender and as a private practice attorney. Aligada’s father immigrated to the United States from the Philippines, and Aligada is the first person of AAPI descent to serve on the state’s highest court. He may serve until 2028, when he must run in a nonpartisan election to remain on the court. Walz has appointed five of the court’s seven justices, and his picks have included historic firsts, with Hudson as the court’s first person of color, specifically, the first Black chief justice and Justice Karl Procaccini serving as the court’s first Muslim justice. Walz has also ensured his appointees have served and represented the interests of the people before joining the court. Hudson practiced housing and employment law. Justice Sarah Hennesy worked as a public defender and a legal aid attorney before joining the bench. Finally, Gaïtas is poised to become the first former public defender to serve as the court’s chief justice.
South Carolina Supreme Court Justice drops out of re-election
South Carolina Supreme Court Justice John Few announced his intent to retire from the court upon the expiration of his term in July of this year. Few’s retirement does not seem completely of his own choice since it followed a contentious legislative election in which Few was challenged by the former speaker of the state house, Jay Lucas, the first time in 20 years that has happened. Few subsequently dropped out of the election. While Lucas practiced law before becoming a state legislator, he would have brought almost no judicial experience to the bench. Due to his lack of experience, even other legislators raised concerns about the implications of ousting an incumbent justice, for the first time in two decades, with a partisan legislator. Now that Few has dropped out of the election, the screening commission must reopen the process.
Only men announced as finalists for Utah Supreme Court vacancies
The Utah Supreme Court will soon see another change among its ranks as Chief Justice Matthew Durrant announced he will retire from the court later this year. With the state legislature recently adding two seats to the state’s highest court and one of the court’s three female justices also announcing her departure from the court in recent weeks, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) will soon appoint four new justices to the court. The Utah Appellate Judicial Nominating Commission has selected 12 finalists from among the attorneys who applied for consideration, all of whom are men. According to advocates and community organizations who are seeking greater gender diversity on the court, several highly qualified women applied to fill the vacancy, but were apparently passed over as the Commission selected the finalists. Prior to the court’s expansion and the spate of retirements, the five-member court had a female majority. Now, with only men applying to fill the four vacancies, the court’s male justices will outnumber the female justices by more than two to one. Cox is currently interviewing the finalists. When the court’s four current vacancies are filled, Cox will have appointed five of the court’s seven justices. Critics of Cox and the legislature’s move to expand the court have noted that the effort seemingly came in response to recent decisions issued by the court that have resulted in setbacks for Cox and the legislature’s policy agenda, including their efforts to ban abortion and transgender student athletes, as well as attempts at redistricting the state’s legislative and congressional maps to cement their electoral advantage. Some advocates remain concerned that Cox and the legislature’s ultimate goal is to shape a new court that will reverse recent rulings that have repeatedly stood in the way of their agenda.
Elections
Conservative Georgia Supreme Court incumbents defeat challengers
Three incumbent Georgia Supreme Court justices won reelection to new terms on Tuesday, May 19, with two defeating challengers and one elected to a new term unopposed. A challenger has not defeated an incumbent justice for more than 100 years in Georgia, and this year’s election was no different. Georgia Supreme Court justices are selected in nonpartisan elections. If a midterm vacancy occurs, the governor appoints a replacement, who must run in the next election that occurs at least six months after their appointment to fill the remainder of the term. They then run for reelection in nonpartisan elections every six years. Eight of the nine justices currently serving on the court were appointed by Republican governors – six by Georgia’s current governor, Gov. Brian Kemp (R), and two by his predecessor, former Gov. Nathan Deal (R). The ninth justice is the only sitting justice to have won his seat in an election, which was uncontested. In this year’s elections, incumbent Justice Charlie Bethel was challenged by Miracle Rankin, a trial attorney who represents victims of catastrophic injuries, medical malpractice, wrongful death, and corporate negligence; incumbent Justice Sarah Warren was challenged by Jen Jordan, a trial attorney and former state senator. Incumbent Justice Ben Land was unopposed. Bethel won reelection with 51.1% to Rankin’s 48.9%, while Warren defeated Jordan with 59.3% of the vote to Jordan’s 40.7%. On January 1, 2027, the three incumbent justices will be sworn in to new six-year terms that will expire on December 31, 2032.
District court judge wins open seat on Louisiana Supreme Court, two incumbents reelected unopposed
Three seats on the Louisiana Supreme Court appeared on ballots in this year’s May 16 partisan primary elections. Louisiana is one of four states that elects supreme court justices to represent geographic judicial districts. The terms of Justice Cade Cole and Justice Jay McCallum are expiring in December 2026, and a special election was held for the seat vacated by former Justice William Crain’s elevation to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana in late 2025. Cole holds the District 3 seat, McCallum represents the District 4 seat, and Crain occupied the District 1 seat. Under Louisiana’s closed primary system for certain statewide elected offices, which is in effect for the first time in the 2026 election cycle, the filing period opened on February 11 and closed on February 13. No candidates filed to challenge Cole or McCallum, both Republicans, and they won reelection unopposed for new terms on the court. Two candidates filed to run for the District 1 seat: William H. Burris, a judge of the Louisiana 22nd Judicial District Court Division E, and Blair Downing Edwards, a judge of the Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeal Third District. Both candidates are Republicans, and they faced off in the May 16 Republican primary election, where Burris defeated Edwards with 57.7% of votes cast to Edwards’ 42.3% of votes cast. With no Democrats filing to run for the seat, the general election was canceled, and Burris became the next justice to occupy the District 1 seat. He will be sworn in to the court within 30 days of the primary election’s certification.
Judge Colleen O’Donnell advances in Republican primary for Ohio Supreme Court
In the Republican primary to choose who will challenge incumbent Justice Jennifer Brunner (D), Judge Colleen O’Donnell defeated three other candidates vying to represent the party on the ballot this November. Most recently, O’Donnell served as a federal immigration judge in Texas. She also served as a judge on the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas. O’Donnell also worked for the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio as well as an assistant attorney general and a private practice attorney.
Washington Supreme Court faces potential shakeup with five seats up for election
Washington voters will cast their votes for five seats on their state supreme court this November, creating the potential for large turnover on the court. While supreme court elections are officially nonpartisan, conservative and other partisan interests are paying close attention to the election, hoping to influence, if not control, the makeup of the court ahead of key issues to come like the tax increase on incomes above $1 million or police accountability laws.
Four of the five seats must face an August 4 primary, where the top two vote winners will advance. Since Justice Colleen Melody and Justice Theo Angelis were appointed to fill interim vacancies on the court, both must stand for election this November to serve the remainder of the terms of the justices they succeeded. Melody is facing two challengers, attorneys Scott Edwards and Laura Christensen Colberg. Angelis will face retired Judge Dave Larson, Judge Sharonda Amamilo, and attorney Greg Miller. Chief Justice Debra Stephens is being challenged by Todd Bloom, Karim Merchant, and David Shelvey. Justice Raquel Montoya-Lewis is not seeking re-election, so Judge Mike Diaz, Judge Jamie Hawk, and Judge David Stevens are running in the August 4 primary for that open seat. Justice Charles Johnson is not seeking re-election to the court. For his seat, only two candidates are running, so there will only be the November 3 general election. Judge Ian Birk and Judge Sean O’Donnell are running against each other.
West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals appointees lose election
The challengers to Gov. Patrick Morrisey’s (R) appointees, Justice Thomas Ewing and Justice Gerald Titus, defeated the two justices running in the May 14 election for the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals. State house delegate Bill Flanigan defeated Ewing to serve the remainder of late Justice Tim Armstead’s s term, which expires in 2028. Former Judge H.L. Kirkpatrick defeated Titus to serve the remainder of retired Justice Beth Walker’s term that expires in 2032.
Candidates for the 2027 Wisconsin Supreme Court election announce campaigns
In the election to fill retiring Justice Annette Ziegler’s seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, more candidates are emerging to fill the field. Clark County Judge Lyndsey Boon Brunette announced her intent to run for Ziegler’s seat in 2027. Brunette previously worked at the Hennepin County Attorney’s office, as the Clark County corporation counsel, as well as Clark County district attorney, where she worked until she was elected circuit court judge in 2018. Statewide court of appeals Judge Pedro Colón also announced his candidacy for Ziegler’s seat in late April. Colón has been a judge since 2010, first serving on the Milwaukee County Circuit Court and then the court of appeals in 2023. Prior to becoming a judge, he was a Democratic lawmaker in the state legislature.
