Minnesota

Supreme Court Justices: 7

Method of Selection: nonpartisan election

Method of Retention: reelection

Length of Term: 6 years

Candidate Fundraising from 2000-2009: $939,122 (ranked 19th in the nation.)

Summary:

•  There are no limits to campaign contributions to judicial candidates except for a $2,000 cap for corporations. To learn more about Minnesota elections, see the Justice at Stake publication, New Politics of the Great Lakes States.

•  The legislature considered in 2010 a ballot issue that would move Minnesota to retention elections for judges, but the measure was blocked.

• Three seats on the Minnesota Supreme Court are on the ballot in the November 2010 elections.  Although Minnesota has avoided costly Supreme Court elections in the past, there were troubling signs of an uptick in partisan politicking.

• 58% of Minnesota voters polled believed that campaign contributions influence judicial decisions according to a 2008 Justice at Stake survey. 77% expressed concern that judicial candidates had to raise money and seek political party and special interest support. 

To Learn More:

• The American Judicature Society's "Judicial Selection in the States" web site has state-specific information on Minnesota, including summaries of the state's Campaign Finance rules and Campaign Conduct codes for judicial candidates.
  

• The National Institute on Money in State Politics has detailed information on candidate fundraising in Minnesota's high-court and appellate election campaigns, including data on the 2008 election.
  

• "The New Politics of Judicial Elections" has a profile on the Minnesota election in the 2000-2008 edition.