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Ballot Explained

Appellate courts · November 3, 2026

Who's on the appellate court ballot in Maryland

One candidate has qualified for this contest. 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.

Candidates
1
Sitting judges
1 of 1
On the ballot
No party label
State primary
Jun 23

Candidates appear in ballot order. We do not rank them, score them, or recommend one — here is how this is put together, and here is what the office actually does.

What is on this ballot

Maryland does not hold contested elections for appellate judges. The governor appoints them from a nominating commission’s list with Senate confirmation, and after at least a year on the bench they face voters in a yes-or-no retention question — “continuance in office” on the Maryland ballot — with no opponent and no party label. That is why no party is listed below. A judge retained this way serves a full ten-year term. The Maryland State Board of Elections confirms that both Justice of the Supreme Court of Maryland and Judge of the Appellate Court of Maryland appear on the November 3, 2026 general election ballot for retention; the courts were renamed from the Court of Appeals and the Court of Special Appeals by a constitutional amendment voters approved in November 2022. One name could be established: Justice Peter Killough, appointed to the Supreme Court of Maryland in 2024, whose first retention question falls this year. The Board had not published the full list of appellate judges standing for retention when this was researched, and no other source named the Appellate Court of Maryland judges on the ballot, so the rest are not listed here. Maryland has no statutory judicial performance evaluation commission and no statewide bar rating of retention candidates was found, so there is very little published assessment of any of these questions.

1 candidates · ballot order · Peter Killough 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, Supreme Court of Maryland, appointed in 2024; this is his first retention question.
  • Maryland appellate judges are appointed by the governor from a nominating commission list with state Senate confirmation, serve at least a year, and then stand for retention; a judge retained wins a full ten-year term.
  • The Supreme Court of Maryland was called the Maryland Court of Appeals until a constitutional amendment approved by voters in November 2022 renamed it; the Appellate Court of Maryland was renamed from the Court of Special Appeals at the same time.

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

  • Whether this question appears before every Maryland voter or only before the voters of the appellate judicial circuit Killough was appointed from could not be confirmed during research. The Maryland State Board of Elections lists the office as appearing on the general election ballot without specifying the electorate.
  • No organised campaign either for or against Killough’s retention was found. Searched: Maryland Matters, The Baltimore Banner, The Baltimore Sun, the Maryland State Bar Association, the Daily Record and the Maryland Commission on Judicial Disabilities.
  • Maryland has no statutory judicial performance evaluation commission and no statewide bar rating of retention candidates was found.
  • The full list of Appellate Court of Maryland judges standing for retention in 2026 could not be established.
  • Killough joined the court in 2024 and no analysis of his opinions was found.
Sources (3)⌄
  1. 1Offices to appear on the ballot — Maryland State Board of Elections — elections.maryland.gov
  2. 2Your state-by-state guide to the 2026 supreme court elections — Bolts — boltsmag.org
  3. 3Welcome to the Appellate Court of Maryland — Maryland Courts — courts.state.md.us

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 Maryland 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.

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