State supreme court elections are happening in 32 states this year

Thirty-two states are holding elections for 64 seats on 34 state supreme courts this year. That count includes Oklahoma and Texas' courts of criminal appeals in addition to their supreme courts.

Nonpartisan justices hold 45 of the seats up for election, Republican justices hold 13, and Democratic justices hold six. Twelve of the courts with seats up for election have Democratic majorities, and 22 have Republican majorities.

Nationwide, 20 courts have Democratic majorities, and 32 have Republican majorities. In eight states, the courts' partisanship is explicitly labeled a result of partisan elections. Democrats control three of these states, and Republicans control five. The remaining 42 states do not have explicitly partisan courts. We use three methods to determine a state court's partisan balance:

- How many justices were registered members of a political party
- The partisan affiliation of the governor who appointed each justice
- f those methods didn't work, we survey media coverage of the court and its decisions to determine partisan leanings



https://news.ballotpedia.org/2026/03/10/state-supreme-court-elections-are-happening-in-32-states-this-year/