Idaho judicial elections, 2014

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Overview
Idaho judicial elections, 2014
Total candidates:	92
Primary candidates:	54
General election candidates:	43
Incumbency
Incumbents:	79
Incumbent success rate:	100%
Competition - general election
Percent of candidates in contested races:	9%
Percent uncontested:	2%
Percent retention:	89%

The Idaho judicial elections in 2014 featured one contested supreme court race, as well as seven contested races for the district courts--only two of which advanced to a runoff in November. Retention elections for the state's magistrates also occurred in November. Thirty-eight magistrate court judges were successfully retained with an average retention rate of 83.0%.

See: Idaho elections summary, 2014.

Election dates[edit]

March 14: Filing deadline
May 20: Election
November 4: Retention elections and runoffs^[1]^[2]

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.

Want to learn more about the biggest judicial election in Idaho? Check out the Idaho Supreme Court elections, 2014 page for an in-depth exploration of the candidates, issues, politics and news surrounding the state's high court race.

Runoff elections[edit]

(I) denotes incumbent

4th District Court, Wetherell seat

Rebecca W. Arnold, 47.2%A
Samuel A. Hoagland, 52.8%A

7th District Court, Shindurling seat

Bruce L. Pickett, 59.3%A
Steven H. Thompson, 40.7%A

Retentions[edit]

The following judges must face a retention election in order to keep their seat. In such 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.

Trial courts

Court	Judge	Votes
Click the arrows in the column headings to sort columns alphabetically.
Idaho 5th Judicial District	Blaine Cannon	85.8%A
Idaho 5th Judicial District	Calvin Campbell (Idaho)	87.7%A
Idaho 4th Judicial District	Carolyn Minder	78.7%A
Idaho 5th Judicial District	Casey U. Robinson	86.1%A
Idaho First Judicial District	Daniel J. McGee	84.0%A
Idaho 4th Judicial District	Daniel Steckel	77.8%A
Idaho First Judicial District	Debra A. Heise	83.5%A
Idaho 3rd Judicial District	Debra A. Orr	80.3%A
Idaho 3rd Judicial District	F. Randall Kline	80.3%A
Idaho 3rd Judicial District	Gary D. DeMeyer	79.6%A
Idaho 7th Judicial District	Gil Gardner	83.9%A
Idaho 4th Judicial District	James Cawthon	77.8%A
Idaho First Judicial District	James D. Stow	84.5%A
Idaho 3rd Judicial District	Jayme Beaber Sullivan	80.7%A
Idaho 2nd Judicial District	Jeff P. Payne	81.5%A
Idaho 2nd Judicial District	John Judge	89.6%A
Idaho First Judicial District	Justin Julian	78%A
Idaho 4th Judicial District	Kevin Swain	77.6%A
Idaho 7th Judicial District	L. Mark Riddoch	83.9%A
Idaho 4th Judicial District	Lamont Berecz	83.7%A
Idaho First Judicial District	Lori T. Meulenberg	85.1%A
Idaho 4th Judicial District	Lynnette McHenry	78.9%A
Idaho 5th Judicial District	Mark A. Ingram	88.9%A
Idaho 7th Judicial District	Mark S. Rammell	87.2%A
Idaho 4th Judicial District	Michael Reardon	78.3%A
Idaho 7th Judicial District	Michelle Mallard	84.7%A
Idaho 5th Judicial District	Mick Hodges	70.8%A
Idaho 2nd Judicial District	Randall W. Robinson	84.4%A
Idaho 6th Judicial District	Rick Carnaroli	87%A
Idaho 5th Judicial District	Rick L. Bollar	87.1%A
Idaho 7th Judicial District	Robert Crowley (Idaho)	82%A
Idaho First Judicial District	Robert James Caldwell	85.3%A
Idaho 4th Judicial District	Roger Cockerille	76.7%A
Idaho 6th Judicial District	Scott E. Axline	86%A
Idaho 7th Judicial District	Scott H. Hansen	86%A
Idaho First Judicial District	Scott Wayman	84.8%A
Idaho 6th Judicial District	Steven A. Thomsen	86.3%A
Idaho 5th Judicial District	Thomas D. Kershaw, Jr.	88.1%A

Election results: May 20[edit]

Most races were decided during the state's primary election, as races only advance to the November election if no candidate receives a majority of the votes in the primary.

Court	Candidate	Incumbency	Primary Vote
Click the arrows in the column headings to sort columns alphabetically.
Seventh Judicial District	Andre Linchenko Lawson	No	26.3%A
First Judicial District	Barbara A. Buchanan A	Yes	100%A
First Judicial District	Benjamin R. Simpson A	Yes	100%A
Third Judicial District	Bradly S. Ford A	Yes	100%A
Seventh Judicial District	Bruce L. Pickett	No	49.0%A
Fourth Judicial District	Cheri Copsey A	Yes	100%A
Seventh Judicial District	Dane Hansen Watkins, Jr.A	Yes	100%A
Seventh Judicial District	Darren B. Simpson A	Yes	73.7%A
Sixth Judicial District	David C. Nye A	Yes	100%A
Fourth Judicial District	Deborah Bail A	Yes	100%A
Fifth Judicial District	Eric Wildman A	Yes	100%A
First Judicial District	Fred Gibler A	Yes	100%A
Fifth Judicial District	G. Richard Bevan A	Yes	100%A
Third Judicial District	George A. Southworth A	Yes	100%A
Seventh Judicial District	Gregory W. Moeller A	Yes	100%A
Fourth Judicial District	Jeanne M. Howe	No	15.1%A
Second Judicial District	Jeff Brudie A	Yes	56.6%A
Seventh Judicial District	Joel E. Tingey A	Yes	64.0%A
Idaho Supreme Court	Joel Horton A	Yes	65.8%A
Second Judicial District	John H. Bradbury	No	43.4%A
Fifth Judicial District	John K. Butler A	Yes	100%A
First Judicial District	John Mitchell (Idaho)A	Yes	100%A
Second Judicial District	John R. Stegner A	Yes	100%A
Fifth Judicial District	Jon P. Brody A	Yes	100%A
Fourth Judicial District	Jonathan Medema	No	18.8%A
Third Judicial District	Juneal C. Kerrick A	Yes	100%A
First Judicial District	Lansing L. Haynes A	Yes	100%A
Fourth Judicial District	Les Bock	No	44.2%A
Sixth Judicial District	Lynn Brower	No	45.1%A
Fourth Judicial District	Lynn Graham Norton A	Yes	100%A
Fourth Judicial District	Melissa Moody A	Yes	100%A
Second Judicial District	Michael J. Griffin A	Yes	100%A
Fifth Judicial District	Michael R. Crabtree A	Yes	100%A
Sixth Judicial District	Mitchell W. Brown A	Yes	100%A
Third Judicial District	Molly Huskey A	Yes	100%A
Fourth Judicial District	Patrick Owen A	Yes	100%A
Fifth Judicial District	Randy J. Stoker A	Yes	100%A
7th Judicial District	Randy Neal	No	36.0%
Fourth Judicial District	Rebecca W. Arnold	No	34.3%A
Fourth Judicial District	Richard Greenwood (Idaho)A	Yes	55.8%A
First Judicial District	Richard S. Christensen A	Yes	100%A
Sixth Judicial District	Robert C. Naftz A	Yes	54.9%A
Fifth Judicial District	Robert Elgee A	Yes	100%A
Fourth Judicial District	Samuel A. Hoagland	No	31.8%A
Seventh Judicial District	Scott J. Davis	No	22.4%A
Idaho Supreme Court	Sergio Gutierrez A	Yes	100%A
Sixth Judicial District	Stephen S. Dunn A	Yes	100%A
Seventh Judicial District	Steven H. Thompson	No	28.6%A
Third Judicial District	Susan Wiebe A	Yes	100%A
Third Judicial District	Thomas J. Ryan A	Yes	100%A
Fourth Judicial District	Thomas Neville A	Yes	100%A
Fourth Judicial District	Timothy Hansen A	Yes	100%A
Idaho Supreme Court	Warren E. Jones A	Yes	100%A
Idaho Supreme Court	William "Breck" Seiniger	No	34.2%A

Process[edit]

Nonpartisan election[edit]

Supreme court, court of appeals and district court races are decided during the state's primary election. However, if no candidate in a judicial race receives over 50 percent of the votes in the primary, the two candidates who received the greatest number of votes advance to the general election, which functions as a sort of judicial runoff election.^[3]

If a race advances to the general election, but one of the candidates leaves the race before that time, the candidate who received the next highest number of votes in the primary takes their spot on the general election ballot. In such a situation, if there is a tie for third place in the primary, the candidate to advance to the general election is chosen by lot by the secretary of state.^[4]

Note: In May 2012, the Idaho Republican Party switched to a closed primary system, which required voters to identify as Republicans before voting. To read more about this, see: Some Idaho voters avoid closed primary, May 17, 2012.

Retention[edit]

Magistrates stand for retention in the general election, which is held in November. Judges file for retention in August. Specifically, they must file their declaration of candidacy no less than 90 days prior to the election.

The ballot includes the following language for such elections: "Shall Magistrate __ of __ County of the __ Judicial District be retained in office?" The voter may then choose to answer either "Yes" or "No". The magistrate must receive a majority of "yes" votes to be retained to a new term.^[5]

Fees[edit]

The filing fee for supreme court and court of appeals candidates is $300. Candidates for the district courts must pay $150. Alternately, candidates may collect signatures in order to waive the filing fee. Supreme court and court of appeals candidates are required to collect 1,000 signatures and district court candidates are required to collect 200 (as of 2014).^[6]^[7]^[8]^[9]

Noteworthy events[edit]

The following articles were current as of the dates listed.

Idaho primary results are in now

May 29, 2014

Click for story→

See also: JP Election Brief: Primary season in high gear--what you may have missed and upcoming races to watch

Idaho's May 20 judicial primary saw eight contested judicial races in the state in 2014, with six of these decided in the primary. In Idaho, if a supreme court, court of appeals or district court candidate receives over 50 percent of the vote, that candidate automatically wins the election. If no primary candidate receives over half of the votes, then the two candidates who received the most votes progress to the general election. The general election in this case functions similarly to a runoff election.^[10]

Incumbent Joel Horton defeated challenger William Seiniger for re-election to the Idaho Supreme Court. Horton garnered 65.8 percent of the votes, to Steiniger's 34.2 percent.^[11] In the Fourth Judicial District, incumbent Richard Greenwood narrowly defeated challenger Les Bock in a race by 55.8 percent to 44.2 percent. In the Second Judicial District, incumbent Jeff Brudie won a similarly close victory over John H. Bradbury, 56.6 percent to 43.4 percent.^[11]

Races in the Seventh Judicial District ended with some decisive victories. Incumbent Darren B. Simpson earned 73.7 percent of the votes to keep his seat over challenger Andre Linchenko Lawson, who earned 26.3 percent. Joel E. Tingey kept his seat by defeating challenger Randy Neal, 64.0 percent to 36.0 percent. The trend toward incumbent victories continued in the Sixth Judicial District, with incumbent Robert C. Naftz taking home 54.9 percent of the votes to defeat challenger Lynn Brower. Brower received 45.1 percent of the votes.^[11]

Idaho's November 4 general election included just two contested judicial races. In the Seventh Judicial District, Steven H. Thompson faced Bruce L. Pickett to compete for the Shindurling seat. In the primary, Thompson received 28.6 percent of the votes, Pickett received 49.0 percent and Scott J. Davis received 22.4 percent. Davis was eliminated and did not advance to the general election. The other contested race took place in the Fourth Judicial District. The primary was a four-way face off between Jeanne M. Howe, Jonathan Medema, Samuel A. Hoagland and Rebecca W. Arnold. Howe and Medema failed to advance to the general election, receiving 15.1 percent and 18.8 percent of the votes, respectively. Hoagland and Arnold competed on November 4 for the Wetherell seat. Both candidates earned a similar number of votes in the primary; Hoagland received 31.8 percent of the primary vote and Arnold received 34.3 percent.^[11]

Idaho judicial primary battles to watch

May 15, 2014

Click for story→

See also: JP Election Brief: Candidate attacks

The primary election on May 20 brought an end to most of the state's contested judicial races. Candidates who received over 50 percent of the nonpartisan primary votes were declared the automatic winners, without having to run in the general election.^[12]

The key race to watch was the state supreme court contest between incumbent Joel Horton and challenger William Seiniger. Horton, who was appointed in 2007 and elected in 2008, was seeking his second full term on the court. Seiniger faced an uphill battle to unseat the well-funded incumbent. Horton had reported over $69,000 in campaign contributions by mid-May, while veteran attorney Seiniger reported no contributions.^[13]

The primary also included several contested trial court races. The most competitive contests included no incumbent candidate. There was one such race in the 4th District and another in the 7th District. The candidates for those races were:

4th District - Wetherell seat

7th District - Shindurling seat

A number of district court judges faced challengers in their bids for re-election, including:

2nd District: Jeff Brudie (incumbent) vs. John H. Bradbury
4th District: Richard Greenwood (incumbent) vs. Les Bock
6th District: Robert C. Naftz (incumbent) vs. Lynn Brower
7th District:

Darren B. Simpson (incumbent) vs. Andre Linchenko Lawson
Joel E. Tingey (incumbent) vs. Randy Neal

Conflict in Idaho Supreme Court race

April 24, 2014

Click for story→

See also: JP Election Brief: Primary match-ups across the nation

The 2014 race for the Idaho Supreme Court was peppered with an unusual amount of conflict. While the 2008 and 2010 elections were each competitive in their own right (the 2008 was especially close, featuring one of the narrowest supreme court races in the history of the state), the 2014 bred contention of a different kind.^[14]

Running for re-election this year was Joel Horton—the man who won that narrow 2008 race by a margin of 0.02 percent.^[15] His competitor, well-known Boise attorney Breck Seiniger, had ignited controversy through a write-up on his website titled "Joel Horton and the appearance of impropriety."^[14]

The article, describing an incident that took place during the 2008 election season, claimed that Horton cozied up to the J.R. Simplot Company when the food corporation was caught in a lawsuit with Idaho farmers:^[15]

“

During [Horton's re-election campaign], the Idaho Supreme Court deliberated on an appeal filed by J.R. Simplot to overturn a jury’s $2,435,906 verdict against the corporation in favor of a group of Idaho farmers. It just so happens that the treasurer for Horton’s re-election campaign was, at the same time, in-house counsel for J.R. Simplot.

… Our justice system only succeeds when people have full confidence in the impartiality and fairness of the judges. By participating in the deliberations on this case AND writing the majority decision, Horton gave the appearance that the integrity of the Idaho Supreme Court was severely compromised.

Justices are expected to identify any conflict of interest—or the appearance of any conflict of interest—that may cause them to be biased—or appear biased—while deciding a case and voluntarily recuse themselves from the case in order to prevent a biased ruling from being handed down.[sic] ^[16]

”

—Breck Seiniger

^[15]

Beneath the write-up, Seiniger supplied readers with documents noting the appointment of Horton's treasurer, Horton's declaration of candidacy, a Martindale.com listing of the treasurer's affiliation with Simplot and more.^[15]

In an interview, Horton denied that his tie to the agribusiness leveraged him campaign support or influenced the lawsuit's outcome. He stated that his challenger was looking to "distinguish himself" and had "taken a few things out of context that represent a flat misunderstanding of how the court works.”^[17]

Horton said he agreed with Seiniger that judges ought not allow outside influences to sway their rulings:^[14]^[17]

“	I don’t think the justices of the Supreme Court ought to be representing anybody. Our job is to try to get the law right. The five of us have worked hard to get the law right, not to decide cases on who we think ought to win, but on the basis of the law. ^[16]	”
—Joel Horton ^[17]

External links[edit]

Idaho Secretary of State, "Elections"

Footnotes[edit]

↑ Idaho Secretary of State, "2014 Idaho Primary and General Election Calendar"
↑ Idaho Votes, "On the Ballot in 2014 for Voters," accessed March 31, 2014
↑ Idaho Statutes, "Title 34. Elections, Chapter 12, 34-1217," accessed April 28, 2014
↑ Idaho Statutes, "Title 34. Elections, Chapter 12, 34-716," accessed April 28, 2014
↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named magistrate
↑ Idaho Statutes, "Title 34. Elections, Chapter 6, 34-615," accessed April 28, 2014
↑ Idaho Secretary of State, "2014 Guidelines for Filing for the Office of Supreme Court Justice or Court of Appeals Judge," accessed April 28, 2014
↑ Idaho Statutes, "Title 34. Elections, Chapter 6, 34-616," accessed April 28, 2014
↑ Idaho Secretary of State, "2014 Guidelines for Filing for the Office of District Judge," accessed April 28, 2014
↑ See: Idaho judicial elections
↑ ^11.0 ^11.1 ^11.2 ^11.3 Idaho Secretary of State, "Unofficial Primary Election Results - Statewide," May 21, 2014
↑ See: Idaho judicial elections
↑ See: Idaho Supreme Court elections, 2014
↑ ^14.0 ^14.1 ^14.2 Idaho Press-Tribune, "Supreme Court justice race could be real barn-burner," April 20, 2014
↑ ^15.0 ^15.1 ^15.2 ^15.3 Breck Seiniger Campaign Website, "Joel Horton and the appearance of impropriety," accessed April 23, 2014
↑ ^16.0 ^16.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
↑ ^17.0 ^17.1 ^17.2 Idaho Mountain Express, "Campaigning justice visits valley," April 23, 2014

Idaho courts

Federal courts:

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: District of Idaho • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: District of Idaho

State courts:

Idaho Supreme Court • Idaho Court of Appeals • Idaho District Courts • Idaho Magistrate Division

State resources:

Courts in Idaho • Idaho judicial elections • Judicial selection in Idaho

[1] Idaho Secretary of State, "2014 Idaho Primary and General Election Calendar"

[2] Idaho Votes, "On the Ballot in 2014 for Voters," accessed March 31, 2014

[3] Idaho Statutes, "Title 34. Elections, Chapter 12, 34-1217," accessed April 28, 2014

[4] Idaho Statutes, "Title 34. Elections, Chapter 12, 34-716," accessed April 28, 2014

[magistrate-5] Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named magistrate

[6] Idaho Statutes, "Title 34. Elections, Chapter 6, 34-615," accessed April 28, 2014

[7] Idaho Secretary of State, "2014 Guidelines for Filing for the Office of Supreme Court Justice or Court of Appeals Judge," accessed April 28, 2014

[8] Idaho Statutes, "Title 34. Elections, Chapter 6, 34-616," accessed April 28, 2014

[9] Idaho Secretary of State, "2014 Guidelines for Filing for the Office of District Judge," accessed April 28, 2014

[jp-10] See: Idaho judicial elections

[2014results-11] 11.0 ^11.1 ^11.2 ^11.3 Idaho Secretary of State, "Unofficial Primary Election Results - Statewide," May 21, 2014

[12] See: Idaho judicial elections

[13] See: Idaho Supreme Court elections, 2014

[idpress-14] 14.0 ^14.1 ^14.2 Idaho Press-Tribune, "Supreme Court justice race could be real barn-burner," April 20, 2014

[simplot-15] 15.0 ^15.1 ^15.2 ^15.3 Breck Seiniger Campaign Website, "Joel Horton and the appearance of impropriety," accessed April 23, 2014

[quotedisclaimer-16] 16.0 ^16.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.

[idaho-17] 17.0 ^17.1 ^17.2 Idaho Mountain Express, "Campaigning justice visits valley," April 23, 2014

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Idaho judicial elections, 2014

Contents

Election dates[edit]

Runoff elections[edit]

Retentions[edit]

Trial courts

Election results: May 20[edit]

Process[edit]

Nonpartisan election[edit]

Retention[edit]

Fees[edit]

Noteworthy events[edit]

Idaho primary results are in now

Idaho judicial primary battles to watch

Conflict in Idaho Supreme Court race

See also[edit]

External links[edit]

Footnotes[edit]