Arizona local trial court judicial elections, 2020

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Main articles: State judicial elections, 2020 and Local trial court judicial elections, 2020

Ballotpedia provides comprehensive coverage of elections in America's 100 largest cities by population. This coverage extends to every office on the ballot for residents of these cities, including local trial court judges. In 2020, Ballotpedia covered the following local elections in this state:

If the above list includes local trial court judgeships, click the links for more information about the elections. Click here to learn more about how the judges in this state are selected. Ballotpedia did not cover all local trial court judicial elections in this state in 2020. Please consider donating to Ballotpedia to help us expand our coverage of these elections.

Election rules[edit]

Primary election[edit]

Judges of the Arizona Superior Court in counties with populations under 250,000 are chosen in a partisan primary and then face nonpartisan general elections.[1]

Candidates for the Arizona Justice Courts participate in primary elections throughout the state.[2]

General election[edit]

Arizona general elections are held on the first Tuesday in November of every even-numbered year. If a victory margin is within one-half of one percent, there will be an automatic recount unless the defeated candidate provides a waiver to the recount.[3]

Candidates that advance from the partisan primary compete in the general election. Appellate court judges as well as superior court judges in Maricopa, Pima, and Pinal counties stand for retention.[2]

Retention election[edit]

In counties with populations greater than 250,000—Maricopa, Pima, and Pinal counties—superior court judges are chosen through a merit selection system. In these counties, judges are appointed by the governor with the help of a selection commission. At the end of their term, the judges remain in office through uncontested retention elections every four years.[1]

Additional elections[edit]

See also: Arizona elections, 2020

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Pivot Counties[edit]

See also: Pivot Counties by state

Pivot Counties are counties that voted for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012 and for Donald Trump (R) in 2016. Altogether, the nation had 206 Pivot Counties, with most being concentrated in upper midwestern and northeastern states. No counties in Arizona are Pivot Counties.

Donald Trump (R) defeated Hillary Clinton (D) in the 2016 presidential election. Trump won 48.7 percent of the vote, while Clinton won 45.1 percent. Arizona was one of 12 key battleground states in 2016. Of the 30 states won by Trump in 2016, Arizona had the fifth closest margin. From when it became a state in 1912 to 2016, Arizona voted Republican in 66.7 percent of presidential elections. It voted Republican in all presidential elections from 2000 to 2016.

Presidential results by legislative district[edit]

The following table details results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections by state House districts in Arizona. Click [show] to expand the table. The "Obama," "Romney," "Clinton," and "Trump" columns describe the percent of the vote each presidential candidate received in the district. The "2012 Margin" and "2016 Margin" columns describe the margin of victory between the two presidential candidates in those years. The "Party Control" column notes which party held that seat heading into the 2018 general election. Data on the results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections broken down by state legislative districts was compiled by Daily Kos.[4][5]

In 2012, Barack Obama (D) won 12 out of 30 state House districts in Arizona with an average margin of victory of 25 points. In 2016, Hillary Clinton (D) won 14 out of 30 state House districts in Arizona with an average margin of victory of 27.5 points. Clinton won two districts controlled by Republicans heading into the 2018 elections.
In 2012, Mitt Romney (R) won 18 out of 30 state House districts in Arizona with an average margin of victory of 22.9 points. In 2016, Donald Trump (R) won 16 out of 30 state House districts in Arizona with an average margin of victory of 21.5 points.


See also[edit]

Local courts Arizona Other local coverage
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Footnotes[edit]


Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 | Original source: https://ballotpedia.org/Arizona_local_trial_court_judicial_elections,_2020
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