Something unprecedented is happening in the Washington State Supreme Court. Five seats are on the ballot this year. That many seats have never been up for grabs at once in the modern court, but a wave of retirements combined with regular term limits has made for one hell of a situation. The court, which oversees the state’s entire judiciary branch and rules on legal disputes through the lens of the state constitution, has nine positions. It needs a minimum of five justices to rule on an opinion. These elections have the potential to change the majority.
And, even though they’re critical positions and the only statewide races on the ballot this year, Washington voters know little to nothing about the state supreme court.
“Judicial elections are low-information exercises,” says State Supreme Court Justice Steve González, “and people tend to default to what they think they know or to a bias if they’re not careful.” We get it, Steve. We’re morons.
The turnout for these nonpartisan judicial races is low. Based on 2012 election data from the Secretary of State and González’s own experience running in these races, he says roughly a third of voters leave the judicial races blank. Another third vote based on whatever name sounds good. Which leaves only the last third—those are informed voters. “You can get elected to the court with only 11 to 15 percent of the registered voters voting for you,” González says. “That’s dangerous.”
A low-information election on this big of a scale—again, five seats up at once in the highly influential court—could create a foothold for moneyed conservatives trying to influence Washington’s government.
It’s always a bad time for fools to have the gavels and the robes, but it would be really fucking bad for that to happen when the federal government keeps encroaching on established liberties, with its threats to abortion access, gay marriage, voting rights, sanctuary policies for immigrants, etc. Plus, the inevitable legal challenge to the historic and recently passed millionaire’s tax will certainly reach this court.
“It’s such an important part of our democracy to have an independent judiciary that is careful, thoughtful, and qualified to do this work,” González says.
The current court is all of those things, according to La Rond Baker, the legal director for the ACLU of Washington. “The Washington State Supreme Court is one of the strongest supreme courts in the country,” she says. She also thinks it is pivotal to protecting our rights.
Adam Glickman, secretary-treasurer of SEIU 775, agrees. “We have one of the most pro-worker, pro–reproductive health, pro–civil liberties and civil rights courts in the country.”
In recent history, this court has made influential rulings like the McCleary decision, ruling the state hadn’t been meeting its constitutional obligation to fully fund basic education in public schools. In 2018, the court ruled the death penalty unconstitutional in State v. Gregory. In 2021, it struck down the state’s felony drug possession law (State v. Blake), a “huge” decision with “immediate impact,” Baker says, as it allowed hundreds of thousands of people to have their drug possession charges vacated, though only 155,000 have since done so. Also in 2021, in the Monschke decision, the court found that life without parole wasn’t constitutional for offenders who are 18 to 20 years old. Last year, in State v. Gator’s Custom Guns, the court upheld a law that bans large-capacity magazines, finding those were not constitutionally protected arms. Sorry to Gator’s.
And, since penning a letter in 2020 about its role in perpetuating racial inequality in the legal system, the court has made strides to address that systemic racism by preventing the exclusion of jurors of color, according to Baker with the ACLU.
Beyond civil issues, the state supreme court will be pivotal in fixing Washington’s regressive tax code. In 2023, with Quinn v. State, this court ruled in favor of the capital gains tax, calling it an excise tax, not a property tax—an important distinction, since a past iteration of the court ruled income was property, making it near-impossible to meaningfully change how the state funds anything.
Four justices are retiring. Justices Mary Yu and Barbara Madsen have already bowed out. Gov. Bob Ferguson appointed their replacements: Justice Colleen Melody, the former chief of the Civil Rights Division in the Washington State Attorney General’s Office when Ferguson ran the place, took over for Yu in January; Seattle litigator Theo Angelis will take Madsen’s seat in April. Both will run for election this year. Neither served as judges before this appointment. Associate Chief Justice Charles Johnson, who is the longest-serving justice, will age out of the court this year, since he’s hit the mandatory retirement age of 75. He’s seeing out the rest of his term, but Johnson’s seat will be open. The same goes for retiring Justice Raquel Montoya-Lewis’s seat.
Chief Justice Debra Stephens’s term is up and she will run for reelection.
That’s five races, with only one elected incumbent. Hopefuls have already begun to line up.
Some familiar jokers are running, like anti-tax retired Federal Way municipal judge David Larson, who keeps running for supreme court and losing. This time, he’s running for Madsen’s seat. So far, his only other challenger (aside from the position’s appointee, Angelis) will be Thurston County Superior Court Judge Sharonda Amamilo. Another joker is David Shelvey, a family law attorney who’s running for Johnson’s seat. He has interesting views on the similarities between T. rexes and kangaroos.
“And since we know kangaroos can jump, T. rexes must also have been able to because they both have short arms,” González explains in a deadpan voice. “You can read his website. He discusses this… issue.” (The Stranger did read it: “Although I am not a scientist, I agree with other nonscientists who have said there is circumstantial evidence of remarkable similarities when comparing the skeletons of a Tyrannosaurus Rex to a kangaroo.”) He’s raised exactly $0 as of press time.
Legitimate candidates are also vying for Johnson’s seat. Ian Birk from the Washington State Court of Appeals (not to be confused with the Seattle Police Department’s Ian Birk, who killed woodcarver John T. Williams and kickstarted SPD’s consent decree) is running. Birk was appointed by Gov. Jay Inslee. He’s raised over $131,000. Sean O’Donnell from King County Superior Court, who was appointed Chief Judge of both the Family Law and Criminal Divisions, is also vying for Johnson’s seat. O’Donnell also served on the Green River Killer Task Force that aided in the prosecution of serial killer Gary Ridgway. He’s raised over $89,000.
Justice Montoya-Lewis’s seat only has two options so far: Washington State Court of Appeals Judge J. Michael Diaz, who helped found the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights program when he was an assistant US District attorney, and Mason County Superior Court Judge David Stevens, who cites Antonin Scalia and Samuel Alito as his judicial heroes.
Justice Yu’s seat is now filled by Ferguson appointee Justice Melody. She’ll be running for election to keep the seat. In mid-March, Scott Edwards, an attorney who represents people and businesses who hate taxes, entered the race against her.
So far, Chief Justice Debra Stephens hasn’t drawn a challenger. But she probably will.
Former Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna has been outspoken about how much he detests the recently passed millionaire’s tax. He’s also the chair of the nonprofit Full Court Press, which grooms conservative candidates to “bring balance back to Washington’s judicial system.” Its website is a confused mix of the law and basketball lingo. The “about” page refers to board members, like McKenna, as the “coaches who help our candidates make plays, take shots, and score wins.” According to tax documents from 2024, Full Court Press took in over $100,000 that year, but they claim on their filings that they do not have to disclose where their money comes from. Full Court Press did not respond to a request for comment.
“We know Rob McKenna and his friends are looking at the supreme court as a way to try to chip away at the progressive wins in legislation,” SEIU 775’s Glickman says.
Conservative money was funneled into 2024’s state supreme court races. Project 42, a conservative nonprofit funded by hedge fund millionaire Brian Heywood, funded David Larson’s race against Sal Mungia in 2024. The perennial failed candidate lost by less than 1 percent. Tax documents show Project 42 earned over $4 million in revenue in 2024.
With nonpartisan, low-information races like these, money could make all the difference.
“You often have situations where very conservative candidates are masquerading as moderates,” Glickman says. “There’s not that party label to distinguish anyone, and a lot of money spent by the right could really confuse people.”
These conservative candidates will likely keep on coming, and with more opportunity to change the court, in more force than usual. Meanwhile, the Trump administration keeps attacking immigrants and civil liberties, and the in-state conservatives keep waging their wars on transgender kids and taxes.
“These things are going to continue to come over the next three years,” Glickman says. He pauses. “God, there’s still three years left.” He continues: “So we need a court that will be willing—on any range of issues—to stand up to the Trump administration and stand up to right-wing forces in Washington and protect folks who are vulnerable.”
Mark your calendars: The filing deadline is May 8. The primary is August 4. The general election is November 3. Tell your friends.
