Maryland Judicial Elections, 2014

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Judicial elections, 2014
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The focus of the Maryland judicial elections in 2014 was the trial courts. Judges of the circuit and orphans' courts competed in partisan primaries and then a nonpartisan general election in 2014. Though the primaries were partisan, candidates could cross-file with both major parties.

Only 40 out of the 169 total candidates ran unopposed in 2014. The contested races saw 11 incumbents defeated, though all five judges facing retention were successful.

See Maryland elections summary, 2014 for an overview of this state's election results.

Election dates[edit]

• February 25: Filing deadline
• June 24: Primary
• November 4: General election^[1]

In addition to candidate lists, this page includes information about how the state's judicial elections work, as well as articles about noteworthy news in races across the state.

General election: Contested races[edit]

(I) denotes incumbent

First Circuit Court, Wicomico County

• Jimmy Sarbanes (I), 55.6%A
• Melvin Caldwell Jr., 44.3%A

Sixth Circuit Court, Frederick County

• Danny Brian O'Connor (I), 48.7%A
• Scott Rolle, 51.1%A

Sixth Circuit Court, Montgomery County (4 seats)

• Audrey A. Creighton (I), 20.0%A
• Daniel Patrick Connell, 17.9%A
• Gary Eugene Bair (I), 20.4%A
• Joan E. Ryon (I), 21.4%A
• Nelson W. Rupp, Jr. (I), 20.0%A

Seventh Circuit Court, Charles County (2 seats)

• Hayward James West (I), 39.9%A
• Jerome Richard Spencer (I), 29.6%A
• Thomas R. Simpson, Jr., 30.3%A

Orphans Court, Allegany County (3 seats)

• Billie J. Gilpin (I), 27.8%A
• Charles "Buck" Taylor, 14.7%A
• Donna F. May (I), 31.5%A
• Edward C. Crossland, 26.0%A

Orphans Court, Anne Arundel County (3 seats)

• Alan Rzepkowski, 23.3%A
• Judith L. Duckett (I), 28.8%A
• Nancy B. Hirshman, 18.7%A
• Nancy Phelps (I), 28.9%A

Orphans Court, Baltimore County (3 seats)

• Arthur M. Frank, 24.0%A
• Juliet Fisher (I), 28.0%A
• Peter V. Gargano, 22.6%A
• William Evans (I), 25.1%A

Orphans Court, Carroll County (3 seats)

• Cathy Reese (I), 25.1%A
• Charles E. Harrison, 8.5A
• Dorothy V. Utz (I), 26.3%A
• Ed Leister, 9.5%A
• John D. Carbaugh, 23.4%A
• Neil Ridgely, 7.2%A

Orphans Court, Cecil County (3 seats)

• Carolyn Crouch (I), 27.7%A
• Pete Pritchard, 22.8%A
• Richard Charles Bartel, 10.7%A
• Sally Saunders Camp, 24.1%A
• W. Edwin Cole, Jr. (I), 14.7%A

Orphans Court, Charles County (3 seats)

• Darlene Breck, 26.7%A
• Brian L. Still, 18.6%A
• Frank H. Lancaster (I), 26.6%A
• J. Lorraine Berry (I), 27.9%A

Orphans Court, Frederick County (3 seats)

• Adrian Remsberg (I), 19.8%A
• Bonnie L. Nicholson, 13.5%A
• Cleopatra Campbell (I), 20.1%A
• James Edward French, 13.0%A
• Janis Judson, 13.4%A
• Jimmy W. Trout, 20.2%A

Orphans Court, Garrett County (3 seats)

• Fred Sanders, 41.1%A
• H. Wayne Wilt (I), 39.1%A
• Everett B. Deberry 1.7%A (write-in)
• Dan Duggan 13.7% A (write-in)^[2]
• Dave Beard 4.0%A (write-in)

Orphans Court, Howard County (3 seats)

• Anne Dodd (I), 22.6%A
• Ellen Harrison, 18.7%A
• Emma Travis-Howard, 16.9%A
• Leslie Smith Turner (I), 21.2%A
• Nicole Bormel Miller, 20.4%A

Orphans Court, Kent County (3 seats)

• Amy L. Nickerson, 20.1%A
• Elroy G. Boyer, Jr. (I), 22.0%A
• Paul M. Showalter, 17.3%A
• Rosalie Brady Kuechler, 18.9%A
• Elizabeth Carroll, 21.5%A

Orphans Court, Queen Anne's County (3 seats)

• Eric Wargotz, 22.8%A
• Joseph V. DiPietro (I), 24.3%A
• Kimberly Jean Cascia (I), 27.0%A
• Stan Ruddie, 8.8%A
• Thomas M. Walsh (I), 16.9%A

Orphans Court, Somerset County (3 seats)

• Bob McCready, 20.3%A
• Donald L. Howard (I), 19.9%A
• John R. Somers (I), 25.6%A
• Kenneth E. Ballard, Jr., 13.1%A
• Libby M. Hall, 20.9%A

Orphans Court, St. Mary's County (3 seats)

• Albert Babcock, 18.6%A
• Dalton Wood (I), 25.9%A
• Linda Dean (I), 17.5%A
• Michael R. White (Maryland), 19.5%A
• William Miles Mattingly (I), 18.4%A

Orphans Court, Washington County (3 seats)

• Cassandra Laverne Costley, 22.5%A
• Eileen W. Wiggins (I), 12.5%A
• John M. Shriver (I), 25.8%A
• Joseph W. Eichelberger, 24.7%A
• Linda Davis (Maryland) (I), 14.5%A

Orphans Court, Wicomico County (3 seats)

• Grover Green Cantwell, Jr., 30.0%A
• Melissa Pollitt Bright (I), 24.2%A
• Norma Lee Barkley (I), 23.8%A
• Peter D. Evans, 21.8%A

Orphans Court, Worcester County (3 seats)

• J. Franklin Knight, 21.8%A
• John Dale Smack, III (I), 28.8%A
• Linda M. Hess (I), 26.9%A
• William D. Shockley (I), 22.4%A

Retentions[edit]

The following judges were retained in the general election. In retention elections, the incumbent judge is not being evaluated against an opponent. Rather, he or she simply receives votes of "yes" to retain or "no", do not retain.

Appellate courts

Court	Judge	Votes
Click the arrows in the column headings to sort columns alphabetically.
Maryland Court of Special Appeals	Andrea M. Leahy-Fucheck	85.8%A
Maryland Court of Special Appeals	Douglas R. M. Nazarian	79.3%A
Maryland Court of Special Appeals	Kevin Francis Arthur	84.8%A
Maryland Court of Special Appeals	Michael Wilson Reed	87.8%A
Maryland Court of Appeals	Shirley Marie Watts	88.4%A

General election: Uncontested[edit]

The following candidates ran unopposed in the general election.

Trial courts

Primary[edit]

For candidate lists and results from the judicial primary on June 24, 2014, please see: Maryland judicial primary elections, 2014.

Process[edit]

Primary election[edit]

Circuit and orphans' court judges compete in a partisan primary for the Republican and/or Democratic nomination. Candidates may cross-file with both parties. The candidates who receive the most votes from each primary advance to the general election to compete against each other, as well as any minor party or independent candidates.^[3][4]

Below is an example of the elections process for the circuit courts provided by the Maryland State Board of Elections:

General election[edit]

Appellate judges stand for retention in the general election. Trial court judge candidates who advanced from the partisan primary run in the general election without party affiliation.^[6]

Noteworthy events[edit]

The following articles were current as of the dates listed.

In Montgomery County, challenger Daniel Patrick Connell appeared on the November ballot for the 6th Circuit Court after winning the Republican primary, even though sitting judges Gary Eugene Bair, Audrey A. Creighton, Nelson W. Rupp, Jr., and Joan E. Ryon defeated Connell in the Democratic primary.[8] 

See also[edit]

• Maryland judicial elections
• Judicial selection in Maryland

External links[edit]

• Maryland State Board of Elections

Footnotes[edit]