A Majority of Washington Supreme Court Seats Are Up for Election

On this year’s ballot for Okanogan County voters are five Supreme Court races and two district races.

Washington is one of just 14 states in the country where voters elect nonpartisan judges. Even more unusual is that a majority of the Supreme Court seats are up for election and that’s never happened before in recent history.

Most voters just aren’t that interested in races involving judges. Judicial candidates don’t run on political philosophies or campaign promises, they run on their records as judges or lawyers.

Based on what we’re seeing at the national level with the U.S. Supreme Court, we can see how our vote for a particular judge could directly impact our lives.

There are some significant decisions that may come before Washington State Supreme Court – including the newly passed “millionaire’s tax.” The possibility that our State’s highest court could become more conservative should be taken seriously.

What can Okanogan Democrats do to help the voters of our county make good decisions in judicial races? We can do our homework on our fellow voters behalf and make our recommendations in the form of endorsements and slate cards. Here’s how our process works:

We sent a personal letter to each of the 20 candidates running for contested judicial positions and invited them to complete our Endorsement Application. We asked them about their education and background, and about their judicial philosophies and what they would do to improve access to justice for all. OK Dems members will get a link to candidate’s responses.

We will invite each of the endorsement-seeking candidates to our June 15th membership meeting where they will have just a couple minutes to introduce themselves and make a statement. We probably won’t have time for a Q & A session for each candidate.

Once each candidate has spoken and left the meeting, we will vote on endorsements for each of the races.  A simple majority rules.

We will post and broadcast our slate of endorsements — both for the primary and for the general election in November. Endorsements matter.