Except for Ohio, Tuesday apparently was a good day if you were a Supreme Court justice looking to keep your job. Both of Michigan's incumbent justices on the ballot -- Justices Markman and Zahra -- prevailed, perhaps not surprisingly as reelection with an incumbency designation still appears to be the norm in Michigan. More noteworthy was the retention of Iowa Justice David Wiggins. As was the case with three of his former colleagues who did not survive a retention election two years ago, Justice Wiggins had ruled in favor of same-sex marriage and was targeted by groups inside and outside the state who spent lavishly to defeat him. The Iowa Bar State Bar Association went all out for his retention, and he has survived, gaining 54% of the vote. In Florida, three Justices targeted by the Republican party as "liberal" and "too extreme" have survived. WSJ Law Blog reports that the party's effort marked the first time a Florida political party has taken a position in a retention race.
Ohio was another story: two of the state's Justices, one Republican and one Democrat, were defeated -- the first time in recent history that two incumbents lost.
