Women Running for Judge: The Impact of Sex on Candidate Success in State Intermediate Appellate Court Elections

Objective. This article will examine whether candidate sex impacts electoral outcomes in judicial elections. Methods. We examine the success of male and female candidates in contested, nonretention elections for state intermediate appellate courts (IACs) from 2000-2006 using OLS and logistic regression analysis. Results. We find that there is no systematic bias against women candidates in IAC races over this period. In fact, there is some evidence that women may actually perform slightly better than men. Conclusions. Contrary to the claims of some scholars, these results suggest judicial elections do not hinder diversity on the state appellate bench.