4 candidates are on the ballot. One ballot can carry several appellate seats, and the note below sets out which contest is which. For each judge: the record, any official performance evaluation, and the arguments published for and against them.
Iowa does not hold contested elections for judges. Since 1962 they have been appointed by the governor from a nominating commission’s list and then face voters only in yes-or-no retention questions, printed with no party label — which is why no party is listed below. A majority of yes votes keeps a justice on for another eight-year term; a majority of no votes creates a vacancy the governor fills the same way. Four of the seven members of the Iowa Supreme Court are on the November 3, 2026 ballot, and every Iowa voter votes on all four: Chief Justice Susan Christensen and Justices Edward Mansfield, Christopher McDonald and Thomas Waterman. Judges of the Iowa Court of Appeals also stand for retention statewide on six-year terms, and some of them will be on this ballot, but the Secretary of State had not posted the 2026 retention list at the time of research — the file at the usual address still held the November 2024 list — and no other source named the 2026 Court of Appeals group, so those names are not given here. The other thing to know before voting on these questions: the Iowa State Bar Association publishes a Judicial Performance Review every two years, rating every judge on the ballot on competence and demeanour from the anonymous responses of lawyers who have appeared before them. It is the best single source on an Iowa retention question, it is normally released shortly before the election, and the 2026 edition had not been published when this was researched. Iowa voters have removed appellate judges once, in 2010, when three Supreme Court justices were not retained after the court’s same-sex marriage ruling.
4 candidates · ballot order · Susan Christensen currently holds this seat
Low confidenceLow confidenceOnly one weak source, dated material, or indirect evidence. Treat specifics with caution.What would raise it: An official filing record and at least one independent report about this candidate would raise this.
What they say they stand for
Their own words. Claims, not verified facts.
Nothing documented in the sources reviewed.
What they’ve actually done
Documented record from official sources.
Justice, Iowa Supreme Court.
Iowa Supreme Court justices are appointed by the governor from a State Judicial Nominating Commission list, serve one year, then face a first retention vote, and eight-year terms after that.
The Iowa State Bar Association conducts a Judicial Performance Review every two years, asking its members to rate each judge on the ballot from 1 to 5 on professional competence — knowledge and application of the law, grasp of factual issues, attentiveness to argument and testimony, courtroom management, promptness of rulings — and separately on demeanour, including whether the judge decides cases on law and fact free of outside influence and treats people equally.
Iowa voters have removed appellate judges at a retention election once, in 2010.
Arguments in favor
We found none published about this candidate in the sources reviewed.
Arguments against
We found none published about this candidate in the sources reviewed.
What we couldn’t verify
The Iowa State Bar Association’s 2026 Judicial Performance Review had not been published at the time of research — its site still showed the 2024 review — so no rating of this justice for this election is available to report. It is normally released shortly before the election and is the single most useful source on an Iowa retention question.
No organised campaign either for or against this justice’s retention was found. Searched: the Iowa State Bar Association, Iowa Capital Dispatch, The Gazette, the Des Moines Register, Radio Iowa and the Iowa Judicial Branch.
No analysis of this justice’s published opinions was found.
Iowa Supreme Court justices are appointed by the governor from a State Judicial Nominating Commission list, serve one year, then face a first retention vote, and eight-year terms after that.
The Iowa State Bar Association conducts a Judicial Performance Review every two years, asking its members to rate each judge on the ballot from 1 to 5 on professional competence — knowledge and application of the law, grasp of factual issues, attentiveness to argument and testimony, courtroom management, promptness of rulings — and separately on demeanour, including whether the judge decides cases on law and fact free of outside influence and treats people equally.
Iowa voters have removed appellate judges at a retention election once, in 2010.
Arguments in favor
We found none published about this candidate in the sources reviewed.
Arguments against
We found none published about this candidate in the sources reviewed.
What we couldn’t verify
The Iowa State Bar Association’s 2026 Judicial Performance Review had not been published at the time of research — its site still showed the 2024 review — so no rating of this justice for this election is available to report. It is normally released shortly before the election and is the single most useful source on an Iowa retention question.
No organised campaign either for or against this justice’s retention was found. Searched: the Iowa State Bar Association, Iowa Capital Dispatch, The Gazette, the Des Moines Register, Radio Iowa and the Iowa Judicial Branch.
No analysis of this justice’s published opinions was found.
Iowa Supreme Court justices are appointed by the governor from a State Judicial Nominating Commission list, serve one year, then face a first retention vote, and eight-year terms after that.
The Iowa State Bar Association conducts a Judicial Performance Review every two years, asking its members to rate each judge on the ballot from 1 to 5 on professional competence — knowledge and application of the law, grasp of factual issues, attentiveness to argument and testimony, courtroom management, promptness of rulings — and separately on demeanour, including whether the judge decides cases on law and fact free of outside influence and treats people equally.
Iowa voters have removed appellate judges at a retention election once, in 2010.
Arguments in favor
We found none published about this candidate in the sources reviewed.
Arguments against
We found none published about this candidate in the sources reviewed.
What we couldn’t verify
The Iowa State Bar Association’s 2026 Judicial Performance Review had not been published at the time of research — its site still showed the 2024 review — so no rating of this justice for this election is available to report. It is normally released shortly before the election and is the single most useful source on an Iowa retention question.
No organised campaign either for or against this justice’s retention was found. Searched: the Iowa State Bar Association, Iowa Capital Dispatch, The Gazette, the Des Moines Register, Radio Iowa and the Iowa Judicial Branch.
No analysis of this justice’s published opinions was found.
Iowa Supreme Court justices are appointed by the governor from a State Judicial Nominating Commission list, serve one year, then face a first retention vote, and eight-year terms after that.
The Iowa State Bar Association conducts a Judicial Performance Review every two years, asking its members to rate each judge on the ballot from 1 to 5 on professional competence — knowledge and application of the law, grasp of factual issues, attentiveness to argument and testimony, courtroom management, promptness of rulings — and separately on demeanour, including whether the judge decides cases on law and fact free of outside influence and treats people equally.
Iowa voters have removed appellate judges at a retention election once, in 2010.
Arguments in favor
We found none published about this candidate in the sources reviewed.
Arguments against
We found none published about this candidate in the sources reviewed.
What we couldn’t verify
The Iowa State Bar Association’s 2026 Judicial Performance Review had not been published at the time of research — its site still showed the 2024 review — so no rating of this justice for this election is available to report. It is normally released shortly before the election and is the single most useful source on an Iowa retention question.
No organised campaign either for or against this justice’s retention was found. Searched: the Iowa State Bar Association, Iowa Capital Dispatch, The Gazette, the Des Moines Register, Radio Iowa and the Iowa Judicial Branch.
No analysis of this justice’s published opinions was found.
Positions and criticism are quoted from the named sources, not our assessments. This is built to help you start getting informed — confirm the official candidate list with your election authority before you vote.
This is one contest on a longer ballot
A Iowa ballot also carries state legislative districts, county offices, judicial seats and often local questions — and which of them you vote on is decided by your street address, not your city or ZIP code.