By Dee Anne Finken, Communications Portfolio Director, LWV of Washington

Voters might feel a tad overwhelmed when they learn how many Supreme Court candidates are on their Aug. 4 primary ballots. Five of the nine seats on the bench are up for grabs with primaries in four of the five races happening next month for a total of 14 candidates. 

Last month, Seattle Times editorial page editor Kate Riley underscored the size of the pool of hopefuls in an essay headlined “Supreme interest in WA high court candidates in 2026 election.”  

Atop a story in the edgier Stranger was this summary: “The Washington State Supreme Court Races Are a BFD This Year.” Below that headline featuring the acronym for a “big deal” was another: “They’re the Most Important State Races in 2026 and No One Knows Anything About Them.” 

A new feature on the state League website seeks to eliminate that awareness problem. It’s a link that gives finger-tip access to online, individual, roughly 8-minute interviews, pre-recorded live, with the Supreme Court primary candidates.

Providing voters ready access to information about candidates, including candidates for the court, has been a key mission of the League since its beginning. Last month, at the Washington state League’s Council in Lacey, Justice G. Helen Whitener put extra emphasis on the task. She discussed the importance of voting in what she termed a “pivotal time” in the nation and in Washington state. (Whitener is not up for re-election this year.)  

The plethora of primary candidates for the court also was an incentive for coming up with a novel approach for informing voters, said state board member Marlene Niemeier, who spearheaded the online project.   

"It would have been impossible to set a single date for all of the candidates to turn out for a forum,” said Niemeier, who was assisted by President Karen Crowley, former state board member Shelley Kneip, and state League Administrative Director Amy Peloff.  

Inspired by Whitener’s message at Council, Niemeier and her colleagues contacted all of the court candidates and informed them of the plan to conduct and record one-on-one interviews, scheduled at the candidates’ convenience.  

Two days before the individual virtual interviews began on July 6, all 14 candidates were sent questions that were prepared by League members with assistance from legal professionals.  

Asking the candidates four of the prepared questions, four League members conducted the interviews. Interviewers were Wendy Colbert from Snohomish League; Eileen McCracken from Bellingham-Whatcom; Amy Easton from Clark; and Peggy Watt from Skagit County. 

Candidates were also asked questions for the League’s Vote411.org site, which will feature those additional answers beginning July 15. 

"Because these races will shape Washington's legal landscape for years to come, we decided this project had to be a priority for the state League,” said Peloff, who designed the page and handled the coding. "We wanted to make it easy for voters to hear directly from each candidate, in their own words, before casting their ballots."

Because judicial races are technically nonpartisan, they historically haven’t generated much attention.  Moreover, most voters don’t have the intricate legal knowledge of how the judicial system works, prompting Niemeier to note, “After all, how do you know how to vote for a judge?”  

Riley, the Times editor, wrapped up her essay last month with a call to action: “Educate yourselves on these races.” 

The League feature allows you to do just that.