This year, 32 states will hold elections for their state supreme courts. Fourteen of these states will hold retention elections, 12 will hold nonpartisan elections, and six will hold partisan elections.

Retention elections are not like traditional elections, as a justice doesn't run against other candidates, but is subject to a yes-or-no vote. The most recent retention elections happened in Pennsylvania in 2025, in which the three justices up for election — Christine Donohue (D), Kevin M. Dougherty (D), and David N. Wecht (D) — won retention with at least 64% of the vote each.

Traditionally, justices win retention elections more often than any other type of election. According to our analysis of retention elections, nine justices in seven states have lost retention elections since 1990. The last time a justice lost a retention election was in 2024, when Oklahoma Supreme Court Justice Yvonne Kauger lost.

Since 1990, voters have retained state supreme court justices with an average of 71.5% of the vote.

Here are a few states where state supreme court retention elections could be noteworthy to watch.

• Arizona: Justice John Lopez IV is standing for retention. Gov. Doug Ducey (R) appointed Lopez in 2016. In Arizona, a justice typically receives an average of 73% of the vote to retain their seat, but in 2022, a justice fell under 60% for the first time since 1990, receiving 56%. In 2024, neither of the justices who faced retention elections received more than 60%, and there was a dedicated anti-retention campaign that year. Ducey appointed all three of those justices who fell under 60%.

• Kansas: Justices Eric Rosen and Larkin Walsh are standing for retention. Democratic governors appointed the justices in 2005 and 2025, respectively. In August 2026, Kansas voters will vote on an amendment that, if passed, would make state supreme court elections partisan, making these the last retention elections in the state. Additionally, according to The Center for Politics' Louis Jacobson, the state "has been known for some anti-retention efforts in recent years, but nothing is on the horizon so far this cycle."

• Oklahoma: Six justices are standing for retention on Oklahoma's Supreme Court and its Court of Criminal Appeals. Oklahoma is one of two states that have two courts of last resort. Republicans appointed all justices. In 2024, Justice Yvonne Kauger became the first justice in state history to lose a retention campaign, receiving only 49.8% of the vote. Since 1990, Oklahoma justices have received an average of 63% of the vote in retention elections, the second-lowest average among all states.

• Utah: Justices Diana Hagen and Jill Pohlman are standing for retention. Gov. Spencer Cox (R) appointed both justices in 2022. Additionally, Cox and legislative Republicans have proposed bills that would add judges to the court and change the state's retention election process, which, if passed, would change future elections.