This article examines the conditions under which state court incumbent judges draw challengers and explores whether those same conditions influence whether the challenger has sufficient experience to pose a threat to the incumbent.
This article discusses open seat state supreme court elections and finds that the outcomes of such elections are determined by candidate characteristics, the electoral context, the value of the seat, and institutional arrangements.
This article examines the determinants of electoral defeat for all incumbent state Supreme Court justices who ran for reelection from 1990–2000 and concludes that the likelihood of an incumbent’s defeat is based on candidate characteristics, the state and electoral context, and institutional arrangements.
This article updates prior reports on the empirical patterns and trends in judicial retention elections. The 3,912 elections encompass both major trial court and appellate court elections in ten states for the period from 1964 through 1994. Reported trends include declines in the affirmative vote, rolloff, and voter differentiation among individual judges.