This year, state judges’ median approval rating will hit a record low — 19 will be retained with less than 60% percent of the vote. The trend suggests lots of qualified judges could be ousted in future elections, creating headaches in the justice system.
“It’s a very uniquely Alaskan thing,” said statistician and researcher Albert Klumpp, who lives in Chicago but studies and tracks judicial retention elections nationwide. “And it seems to be more of an anti-system vote, than anything to do with the judges themselves.”The judges this year, and in years past with few exceptions, got positivefrom the Alaska Judicial Council. The nonpartisan council recommended retaining all of the judges on the ballot this year.
“Rates had been dropping over time and were approaching a level where it might be possible that an entire slate of judges could be wiped off the ballot by just a blanket no vote from enough people,” he said. “Those are not places that are, you know, teeming with social justice warriors — those are very staunchly conservative places,” he said. “And yet they support their judges at very high rates. Even more than some more balanced or Democratic states.”
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