Retention Elections, Bar Polls, and Characteristics of Judges in Cook County, IL

• In Event: Candidates and Campaigns in U.S. Politics

Abstract

For American state retention elections, incumbent judges face a periodic voter review in a nonpartisan election setting. Voters are given a ballot choice on whether to retain the current judge (justice) or not. Judicial retention elections are low information contests, and the factors influencing voter decisions regarding whether to support or oppose an incumbent judge are less clear. Campaign information is minimal in most retention elections. Judicial evaluations or bar polls, that is, opinion surveys from lawyers who practice before the court, are one source of information for voters. Often the race, ethnicity, and sex of a candidate are revealed by media and campaign information. These are among the few cues provided to voters. In large urban centers such as Chicago, there are often local bar associations for attorneys within various demographic profiles, and these organizations also may release judicial performance evaluations. Data include all judicial retention elections in Cook County, Illinois (Chicago) between 1998 and 2020 inclusive. Candidate characteristics and bar polls are associated with retention election outcomes.

Authors

• James W. Endersby, University of Missouri

• Aubree J Hardesty, University of Missouri, Columbia