The view west from the Iowa State Capitol steps toward downtown Des Moines. Photo: Voice of America, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Wright County voters kept every judge who appeared on the Nov. 3 ballot, and they did it by wide margins, according to unofficial results compiled from the state’s count.
County-level tallies posted from Iowa’s unofficial results file, including those on Electoral Meridian’s Wright County page, showed “yes” votes between about 73% and 76% for each of the judicial retention questions. Court of Appeals Judge Julie A. Schumacher had the strongest local yes vote, at 2,386 to 752, or 76.0%. Judge John M. Sandy was retained on a 2,349-797 vote, or 74.7%, and Judge Sharon Soorholtz Greer on a 2,257-853 vote, or 72.6%.
The District 2B judges on the ballot, whose district includes Wright County and a dozen other counties, all cleared the same hurdle locally: Bethany Currie, Angela L. Doyle, Amy Moore, Christopher Polking and Ashley Sparks each received yes votes of about 73% to 75% in Wright County. Associate Judge Joseph L. Tofilon was retained on a 2,276-813 vote, or 73.7%.
Judicial retention in Iowa is a yes-or-no vote, not a contested race. Statewide unofficial totals, which the same file showed for the Court of Appeals races, also had each of those judges well above 70% yes. Wright County supervisors canvassed the Nov. 3 election on Nov. 10; the judicial figures, like the rest of the statewide file, remain unofficial until the state canvass.
The local meaning is quieter than a supervisor race, but it is not small. These are the judges who hear appeals and the district court matters that start in places like Clarion. Voters did not turn any of them out.
Greta VanSteen writes for Clarion News Online.