Who's on the appellate court ballot in North Dakota
3 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.
Two of the five seats on the North Dakota Supreme Court are on the November 3, 2026 ballot, and every voter in the state votes on both. North Dakota judicial elections are nonpartisan — no party label is printed beside any name, which is why no party is listed below. In ballot order by seat: the seat held by Justice Jerod E. Tufte, contested by Watford City attorney Ariston (Ari) Johnson; and the seat held by Justice Douglas Bahr, who is unopposed. A top-two primary was held June 9, 2026; Tufte took 63.4% and Johnson 36.2%, and both advanced to the general election. Bahr, appointed in 2023, is running to serve out the remaining years of the ten-year term he was appointed to fill. North Dakota has no intermediate appellate court, so these two Supreme Court seats are the only appellate contests on the ballot. Roster from the North Dakota Secretary of State's primary results as reported by the North Dakota Monitor.
3 candidates · ballot order · Jerod E. Tufte currently holds this seat
Medium confidenceMedium confidenceThe candidate's stated positions and basic record are documented, but coverage is thin — often little independent reporting, or criticism from only one side.What would raise it: More independent reporting, a documented voting record, or published criticism from a named opponent would raise this.
What they say they stand for
Their own words. Claims, not verified facts.
Applying North Dakota statutes as the legislature wrote them.
Continuity on a five-member court.
Judicial experience at both the trial and appellate level.
What they’ve actually done
Documented record from official sources.
Justice, North Dakota Supreme Court, since 2016.
District court judge before his election to the Supreme Court.
Led the June 9, 2026 nonpartisan primary with 63,253 votes (63.44%).
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
No published criticism of Tufte by name was found. Searched: North Dakota Monitor, InForum, KFGO, KX News and the North Dakota Court System's own news page. His opponent has framed the race around judicial temperament and apolitical service rather than criticism of Tufte.
North Dakota does not run an official judicial performance evaluation commission, and no State Bar Association of North Dakota rating of the candidates was found.
No independent analysis of Tufte's published opinions was found.
Keeping politics out of judging — in his words, "I am myself generally apolitical. I don't bring my politics to work, and I would not bring them to the Supreme Court."
Judges applying the law rather than making policy: if the law is wrong, he says, "the Legislature should write a better law."
Western North Dakota practice experience, including oil and gas litigation, as a perspective the court lacks.
What they’ve actually done
Documented record from official sources.
Civil litigator in Watford City, North Dakota; practice includes oil and gas law.
Law degree, College of William and Mary, 2007.
Finished second in the June 9, 2026 nonpartisan primary with 36,045 votes (36.15%).
Has said publicly that in the other 2026 Supreme Court race he would vote for Justice Douglas Bahr rather than seek that seat himself, because Bahr's background as a government lawyer gives the court a perspective it needs.
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
No published criticism of Johnson by name was found, and no endorsement of him by a named organisation was found. Searched: North Dakota Monitor, InForum, KFGO and KX News coverage.
No campaign website for Johnson was located.
Johnson has no judicial record, so there are no opinions to describe.
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 North Dakota 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.
Your ballot is determined by your election authority, not by us. Verify your registration, precinct, and sample ballot at North Dakota Secretary of State.