The Downballot's guide to state supreme court elections in 2024

These critical contests will impact abortion rights, voting rights, and much more

North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Allison Riggs (D), who is up for election in 2024 (credit: Allison Riggs campaign)

Thirty-two states will hold elections for their highest courts this year, with 72 different seats on the ballot. In three of these states, partisan or ideological majorities are up for grabs, while in many others, important races will help determine each court's future.

State supreme courts have emerged as an especially important battleground in recent years, particularly given the conservative takeover of the federal judiciary. State courts, however, retain wide authority to decide many important cases, with abortion rights taking center stage this year.

Below is The Downballot's guide to 10 of the most compelling states hosting supreme court elections this year, covering 19 different contests. Note that states use a variety of different methods for electing their justices, though all are conducted statewide unless otherwise specified. The ideological lean of a given court can also be tricky to assess, but we provide our best guideposts in each case.

For a complete list of all supreme court races on the ballot, bookmark our Nov. 2024 “Big Board.”

We'll be following all of these races closely on election night, when we'll be liveblogging the returns on our private Discord server. To join, please consider becoming a paid subscriber.

Arizona

9 justices (9 appointed by Republican governors)

Seats up this year: 2 Republican appointees

Election type: retention/nonpartisan

Two conservative justices who voted to uphold Arizona's Civil War-era abortion ban earlier this year, Clint Bolick and Kathryn King, are up for reelection, but they don't have opponents. Rather, voters will cast ballots in "retention" elections where they'll be asked simply whether the incumbents should be given another six-year term, yes or no. There are no party labels on the ballot.

Should a majority reject either or both, Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs would be able to name replacements from a list provided by a state commission, though her Republican predecessors have stacked that board even though it's intended to be nonpartisan.

Republican lawmakers have also placed an amendment on the ballot called Proposition 137 that would eliminate regular retention elections and grant judges lifetime tenure. It would further retroactively cancel the results of this year's judicial elections. Therefore, in the unlikely event that voters approve Proposition 137 and simultaneously vote not to retain Bolick and King, the results of those retention elections would be wiped from the books.

Kentucky

7 justices (5 conservatives, 2 liberals)

Seats up this year: 1 conservative

Election type: nonpartisan

Unlike most states that hold elections for their supreme courts, Kentucky elects its justices by district rather than statewide. The swingy 5th District, based around Lexington and the state capital of Frankfort, is hosting a competitive open-seat race between state Court of Appeals Judge Pamela Goodwine and attorney Erin Izzo for an eight-year term.

Though the election is officially nonpartisan, Goodwine has the support of Democrats, including Gov. Andy Beshear. She would also be the first Black woman on the Kentucky Supreme Court. Izzo, meanwhile, is backed by Republicans and has praised U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito's ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization that overturned Roe v. Wade.

The 5th District voted for Donald Trump 49-47 in 2020, but it went for Beshear by a 63-37 margin during his successful bid for reelection last year. Candidates do not appear with party labels on the ballot, but if Goodwin, she'd move the court to the left as she'd be replacing retiring Chief Justice Laurance VanMeter, a conservative.

Louisiana

7 justices (5 Republicans, 1 Democrat, 1 independent)

Seats up this year: 1 Republican

Election type: partisan

Judge John Guidry, a state Court of Appeal judge, is running unopposed for a seat on the Louisiana Supreme Court, but the election is notable even though it's uncontested.

Earlier this year, Republican Gov. Jeff Landry signed a bill to create a second majority-Black district on the map used to elect justices. (Like Kentucky, Louisiana holds Supreme Court elections on a district-by-district basis, not statewide.)

Guidry, a Democrat, is seeking that new seat, safely blue turf anchored by the state capital in Baton Rouge that's numbered the 2nd District. After two other candidates were disqualified from the ballot, Guidry is now guaranteed to become the court's second Black justice, alongside Piper Griffin in the New Orleans-based 7th District.

The prior version was held by a Republican justice who had reached the mandatory retirement age of 70, so Guidry's win will constitute a flip.

Michigan

7 justices (4 Democrats, 3 Republicans)

Seats up this year: 1 Democrat, 1 Republican

Election type: nonpartisan, but candidates are nominated by parties

Republicans could retake control of Michigan's top court, which they lost in 2020—or Democrats could expand their majority by flipping an open GOP seat. Either scenario would require one side or the other to sweep both of this year's races.

Democrat Kimberly Thomas, a law professor, and Republican Andrew Fink, a state representative, are squaring off for the seat held by retiring Republican Justice David Viviano. The winner will serve a full eight-year term.

Meanwhile, Democratic Justice Kyra Harris Bolden, who was appointed to fill a vacancy two years ago by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, faces Republican Patrick William O'Grady, a circuit court judge, in the race for the final four years of the term originally won by her predecessor in 2020.

Supreme Court candidates in Michigan are chosen by political parties at conventions earlier in the year, but they do not appear on the ballot with party labels. However, Bolden will be identified as the incumbent.

Mississippi

9 justices (7 conservatives, 2 liberals)

Seats up this year: 1 liberal

Election type: nonpartisan

Four members of Mississippi's Supreme Court are up for new eight-year terms, but only two face any opposition, and one, conservative Dawn Beam, looks safe for reelection.

One moderate-to-liberal member of the court, however, has a well-funded challenger on his right. Justice Jim Kitchens, who is seeking a third term, faces Republican state Sen. Jenifer Branning, a self-described "Christian conservative" who's been a vigorous crusader against abortion rights. There are also three others on the ballot, so if no one takes a majority then the top-two vote-getters would advance to a Nov. 26 runoff. 

Like Kentucky and Louisiana, Mississippi does not hold statewide elections for its top court. Rather, the state is divided into three districts, with each district electing three justices. Kitchens serves the 1st District, which cuts across the middle of the state and is by far the most left-leaning: Joe Biden won it 53-46 in 2020 even as Donald Trump carried the state by a wide 57-41 margin.

In part because elections are officially nonpartisan, it can be hard to get a precise read on the court's ideology, despite our summation above that there are seven conservatives and two liberals. In some high-profile cases in recent years, some conservative-leaning justices have sided with the more moderate minority, though hardliners have typically prevailed.

Montana

7 justices (3 liberals, 2 moderates, 2 conservatives)

Seats up this year: 2 liberals

Election type: nonpartisan

Conservatives could win a majority on Montana's Supreme Court this year if they flip two open seats held by departing liberal justices. Republicans have long sought to take over the independent-minded court, which for many years has defended a robust right to abortion found in the state constitution and clamped down on GOP power grabs.

The court's willingness to defy Republicans, however, could be undermined if the two conservative candidates—Cory Swanson, the top prosecutor in Broadwater County, and Dan Wilson, a state district court judge—both prevail. Swanson faces former federal Magistrate Judge Jerry Lynch while Wilson is up against state District Court Judge Katherine Bidegaray.

Both races are for eight-year terms and are officially nonpartisan, meaning there are no party labels listed on the ballot.

North Carolina

7 justices (5 Republicans, 2 Democrats)

Seats up this year: 1 Democrat

Election type: partisan

For Democrats, the long road back to a majority on the North Carolina Supreme Court, which they lost in 2022, begins by electing Justice Allison Riggs to an eight-year term. Riggs, who was appointed by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper to fill a vacancy last year, is being challenged by state Court of Appeals Judge Jefferson Griffin.

The soonest Democrats could retake control of the court would be 2028, though North Carolina Republicans could potentially make that timeline even longer by, for instance, adding seats to the court. Candidates will appear on the ballot with party labels next to their names.

Ohio

7 justices (4 Republicans, 3 Democrats)

Seats up this year: 2 Democrats, 1 Republican

Election type: partisan

Ohio Democrats have an outside shot at retaking a majority on the Supreme Court, but they'd have to sweep all three seats up for election this year, including two they already hold and one in Republican hands.

One contest pits two incumbents against one another, Democrat Melody Stewart and Republican Joe Deters. Deters was appointed to fill a vacancy by Republican Gov. Mike DeWine last year but opted to challenge Stewart because the winner will serve a full six-year term.

Deters' seat, by contrast, will elect a new justice for just two years, to fill out the remainder of the term first won by Deter's predecessor. That race features Democrat Lisa Forbes, who serves on the state Court of Appeals, and Republican Dan Hawkins, a judge on the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas.

In the final race, Democratic Justice Michael Donnelly is seeking a six-year term against Republican Megan Shanahan, who serves on the Court of Common Pleas in Hamilton County. Candidates will appear with party labels on the ballot, a change Republicans made after two candidates nominated by Democrats won in 2020 when elections were still officially nonpartisan.

Oklahoma

9 justices (5 appointed by Republican governors, 4 by Democrats)

Seats up this year: 3 Democratic appointees

Election type: retention/nonpartisan

Conservative are targeting three Oklahoma justices who were appointed to the bench by Democratic governors, urging voters to deny them new six-year terms in nonpartisan retention elections.

Incumbents James Edmondson, Noma Gurich, and Yvonne Kauger all voted with the majority in two recent cases that infuriated hardliners—one finding a very limited right to an abortion, the other barring the state from funding a Catholic charter school.

While the partisan affiliation of the governors who selected each justice can serve as a guide to the court's ideology, some more moderate Republican appointees have regularly joined with the Democratic appointees in important recent cases to stymie conservatives. Party labels do not appear on the ballot.

If any voters oust any justices, Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt would get to pick replacements, though he'd be limited to choosing names put forward by an independent state commission. Republicans, however, are also seeking to eliminate that commission, though a proposed constitutional amendment failed to make the ballot this year.

Texas

9 justices (9 Republicans)

Seats up this year: 3 Republicans

Election type: partisan

Three justices are seeking another six-year term on Texas' all-Republican Supreme Court, which last elected a Democrat in 1994. But Democrats are hoping abortion rights will give them an opening, especially after the court unanimously rejected a request for an emergency abortion from a woman named Kate Cox late last year, even though a lower court had concluded her health and life were at "serious risk" without one.

For the seat known as Place 2, DeSean Jones is hoping to unseat Justice Jimmy Blacklock; in Place 4, Christine Weems is taking on Justice John Devine; and for Place 6, Bonnie Lee Goldstein is running against Justice Jane Bland. All three Democratic candidates are state judges, with both Jones and Weems serving on District Courts in Houston and Goldstein a member of a Court of Appeals in the Dallas area. Elections are partisan, with candidates identified by party label.