Whether judges are elected or appointed depends on the court. Every federal judge, from district court up to the U.S. Supreme Court, is appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. State judges are a different story: about 38 states use some form of election, but the format ranges from traditional partisan races to quiet yes-or-no retention votes on judges who were originally appointed.
Federal Judges Are Appointed for Life
There is no such thing as a federal judicial election. Article II of the Constitution gives the President the power to nominate federal judges, and the Senate confirms them by majority vote.1Constitution Annotated. Article II Section 2 Clause 2 Once confirmed, they serve “during good Behaviour,” which in practice means for life unless they resign, retire, or are impeached.2Constitution Annotated. Article III The framers designed it this way on purpose. They wanted judges insulated from political pressure so they could rule on constitutional questions without an election looming over them.
So if you’re voting for a judge, you’re voting for a state judge. Everything that follows applies to state trial courts, state appellate courts, and state supreme courts — the courts that handle most of the legal disputes in the country.
The Three Ways States Pick Judges
States use three main methods, and many states use different methods for different levels of court. A state might appoint supreme court justices through a merit system but hold contested elections for trial judges, or vice versa.
The three systems are partisan elections, nonpartisan elections, and merit selection with retention votes. The practical difference for a voter is what you’ll see on the ballot: a party label, a plain name, or a yes-or-no question about whether a sitting judge should stay.
Partisan Elections
In a partisan judicial election, candidates run under a political party just like candidates for governor or state legislature. They compete in a party primary, and the winners face off in the general election. About eight states use this format for their highest court. The party label gives voters a shortcut for guessing a candidate’s judicial philosophy, but it also ties judges to political parties in a way that can make their impartiality harder to trust.
Nonpartisan Elections
Nonpartisan elections strip the party labels off the ballot. Roughly 13 states use this format for their supreme court. In some, all candidates appear on a single primary ballot and the top two advance, regardless of party.3U.S. Election Assistance Commission. Primary Election Types The idea is to push voters toward evaluating qualifications instead of politics. In reality, party endorsements and campaign spending usually telegraph a candidate’s leanings anyway, but the ballot itself stays neutral.
Merit Selection and Retention Elections
The most common system for state supreme courts isn’t a traditional election at all. Twenty-one states and the District of Columbia use some version of what’s often called the Missouri Plan. A nonpartisan nominating commission of lawyers and citizens reviews applicants for an open judgeship, narrows the field to a shortlist, and sends those names to the governor. The governor picks one.
After an initial period, usually a year, the new judge faces voters in a retention election. There’s no opponent. The ballot simply asks whether the judge should stay in office, and voters mark yes or no. A simple majority of yes votes keeps the judge on the bench in most states. New Mexico requires a supermajority of 57 percent.
Incumbents almost always win these votes. Since 1990, state supreme court justices have been retained roughly 98 percent of the time, and only nine have lost retention in that span. The most notable removal came in Iowa in 2010, when voters ousted three justices after a same-sex marriage ruling. The most recent came in Oklahoma in 2024. A retention defeat is rare enough to make national news, but the possibility is real, and it gives voters a meaningful check on judges who otherwise reached the bench by appointment.
What Happens When a Judge Leaves Mid-Term
When a judge resigns, retires, dies, or is removed before the end of a term, the seat doesn’t sit empty. In roughly 29 states, the governor appoints a replacement, often with help from a judicial nominating commission that screens candidates and submits a shortlist. Other states fill the vacancy through a special election or straight gubernatorial appointment with no commission.
In most states the appointed replacement eventually has to face voters, either in a retention election or a contested race at the next regular cycle. Midterm appointments aren’t permanent workarounds, but the appointed judge usually enjoys a strong incumbency advantage once that election arrives.
Who Can Actually Run for Judge
Judicial candidates face stricter qualifications than candidates for most other offices. The near-universal requirement is bar membership: candidates must be licensed attorneys in good standing, and most states require a minimum number of years in active practice. The floor varies, with some states requiring as few as five years for a trial court seat and others requiring ten regardless of court level.
Residency is another standard requirement. Candidates typically have to live in the judicial district or state they want to serve, often for at least a year before the election. Some states also set age minimums, though these are less common.
At the other end, about 31 states and the District of Columbia impose mandatory retirement ages. The most common cutoff is 70, though several states have raised theirs to 72 or 75, and Vermont’s doesn’t kick in until 90.4Judicature. Happy Birthday Now Get Out Filing to run also involves nomination papers, a filing fee that varies by state and court level, and in some jurisdictions, a minimum number of voter signatures on a nominating petition.
How Long Judges Serve
Elected and retained state judges serve fixed terms that range from four to 14 years. State supreme court terms commonly fall between six and ten years, with California and Delaware setting 12-year terms. Trial court judges generally serve shorter terms, often four to six years. Appellate judges fall in between, typically six to 12 years.
Longer terms are generally seen as protecting judicial independence, since judges don’t have to start fundraising for the next race right away. Shorter terms keep judges more directly accountable to voters. Most states have settled somewhere between six and eight years for their highest courts.
How to Evaluate a Judicial Candidate
Judicial races are the ones voters are most likely to skip. Ballot rolloff — people voting for top-of-ticket races and leaving judicial contests blank — is a documented problem, partly because judicial campaigns provide less information than other races and voters often face a long list of unfamiliar names with no party labels to guide them.
The best starting point is bar association ratings. Local and state bar associations evaluate judicial candidates on legal knowledge, integrity, experience, and temperament, usually through interviews, peer surveys, and reviews of the candidate’s legal work. Rating scales vary, but common designations include “Highly Qualified,” “Qualified,” and “Not Recommended.” These ratings reflect the collective judgment of lawyers who have actually worked with or in front of the candidates.
For sitting judges up for retention or reelection, judicial performance evaluations are even more useful. Sixteen states, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, run formal evaluation programs that assess judges on legal knowledge, impartiality, communication, temperament, and administrative skill. These commissions survey attorneys, observe proceedings, and review the judge’s written rulings. If your state publishes them, they’re the single most useful tool for deciding whether a judge deserves another term.
It’s also worth looking at a candidate’s professional background. A prosecutor, a public defender, and a corporate litigator each bring different perspectives, and different blind spots, to the bench. Check your local election board’s website for a sample ballot before election day. Judicial races tend to sit at the bottom of a long ballot, and showing up prepared is the difference between an informed vote and a guess.