Kansas voters will decide Tuesday whether they'll elect state Supreme Court justices from now on rather than have the governor appoint them, a push from Republicans who have chafed for years over court decisions they disagreed with on issues such as abortion, school funding, and the death penalty. If the constitutional amendment passes, supporters hope to elect at least four anti-abortion justices to the seven-member court by 2033, the AP reports. One issue is that increasingly contentious and expensive judicial elections in other states are making their courts more partisan and less independent. Spending in a single state Supreme Court race in Wisconsin last year topped $100 million.
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat who opposes the measure, said gerrymandering and dark money have put the Legislature out of step with the state and "to think you can make the judicial branch a part of that dysfunctional system is frightening." GOP lawmakers cite multiple rulings by Kansas courts over the past two decades in arguing for the change. Most recently, a district court reinstated a three-day grace period for voters to return mail ballots after Election Day, which Republican legislators had eliminated. State Senate President Ty Masterson, seeking the Republican nomination for governor, called the decision "outrageous" and urged people to vote yes on the ballot question. The same judge blocked enforcement of a 2025 law prohibiting gender-affirming care for transgender minors. Masterson described him as "radical."
The rulings Republicans criticize include decisions on education funding back to 2004. Supreme Court decisions forced lawmakers to increase funding to comply with the state constitution. "If we elect our Supreme Court, they won't force you to spend money on schools," Masterson said in remarks in November to the Marion County Patriots for Liberty, per the Marion County Record. The ballot proposal gained currency among Republicans after a 2022 public vote affirming the high court's landmark 2019 decision that Kansas' bill of rights guarantees bodily autonomy and access to abortion. Legislators who worked to overturn the Supreme Court's protections, including Masterson, helped write this year's proposal.
Twenty-two states elect their top court's judges, eight in partisan races. Governors in 26 states appoint them. In South Carolina and Virginia, legislators pick the justices. Kansas elected justices for nearly 100 years before voters amended the state constitution in 1958. The governor now picks one of three finalists named by a nominating commission controlled by attorneys. Legislators have no role.
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