By Logan Wells, News Director | Logan@kymnradio.net
Among the many different elections on the ballot, this year is the election of judges on the back of the ballot. In Minnesota, voters elected judges for the Trail Court, Appellate Court, and Supreme Court. During each election, usually about a third of judges in Minnesota are up for election; however, most of these judges are incumbents, and according to Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Godron Moore, most judges are appointed by the Governor to fill a vacancy in the court system and only a handful of new judges have been elected to the bench.
Governors rely on the Minnesota Commission on Judicial Selection to review candidates for judicial offices across the state. The Minnesota Supreme Court appoints half the commission’s members, the Governor appoints the other half, and the members include attorneys and non-attorneys. In total, the commission consists of 49 members from across the state. Justice Moore described the process as an extensive vetting system:
“And I get calls from members of the Judicial Selection Commission all the time. These are probing civic minded and frankly somewhat skeptical people. They are looking, they want to know what’s the rest of the story because you know, people can put together a pretty good resume and they can but they want to talk to people. Not just people that are on the reference list, but they want to know how has this person actually been in court to deal with. And you learn a lot from those kind of unsolicited phone calls. “ – MN Supreme Court Justice Gordon Moore on KYMN’s Legal Talk
The commission typically recommends three candidates for an office. They then undergo another round of interviews and vetting conducted by the Governor, after which one is appointed to the seat. Typically, an appointed judge serves for a year before they are up for reelection.
Unlike any other office on the ballot, judges are labeled if they are incumbent because in the 1940s, the Minnesota State Legislature passed a law adding the label to help inform voters.
Judges in Minnesota are non-partisan and are limited in what they can say on the campaign trail. Justice Moore noted that judicial candidates can not endorse each other or work together, and that political events are much more academic compared to traditional campaigns. Justice Moore also noted that many other states have had partisan politics overtake their judicial systems. Overall, Justice Moore praised the work by previous judges and Governors who worked to keep the court system free of partisan politics.
“But even in some states, when the elections are characterized as nonpartisan, they’re as partisan as heck, and you know we have Really done a good job through Republican governors and independent governors. Jesse Ventura was was made outstanding selections because he listened to his judicial selection. Commission and the people who were advising him. Same thing with Governor Plenty. Governor Carlson, Govrnor Walz, Governor Dayton. I mean these they they are not going out on a limb and just kind of randomly picking people. This is a very, very closely held process.” – MN Supreme Court Justice Gordon Moore on KYMN’s Legal Talk
Locally all of the judicial offices are uncontested, but there are some challengers state-wide for the Supreme Court. You can listen to Justice Moore’s full interview and conversation about the Minnesota Judiciary by clicking here.
