(The Center Square) – Washington Republicans are rounding out their “recommendations” for the state Supreme Court elections ahead of a crowded August primary with four nonpartisan seats on the ballot.
While five seats are up for grabs this November, only four will see a contested primary in August, with the two candidates who receive the most votes for each position advancing to the fall general election.
Last week, the Washington State Republican Party announced “recommendations” for Positions 1 and 7, after previously issuing support for Mason County Superior Court Judge David Stevens and retired Federal Way Municipal Court Judge Dave Larson, who are running for Positions 3 and 5.
“I know it’s kind of technical, but these are not endorsements; these are recommendations,” Chairman Jim Walsh told The Center Square in an interview, emphasizing the nonpartisan nature of this election.
WAGOP has backed Laura Christensen Colberg, a family law attorney and Snohomish County Superior Court pro tem commissioner for Position 1, and Todd Bloom, a tax attorney who ran for state Supreme Court in 2024 and as a Republican congressional candidate in 2016 and 2022, for Position 7.
Neither candidate responded to The Center Square’s request for comment before publication on Monday.
Colberg is challenging Justice Colleen Melody, who joined the court in January after previously working under Gov. Bob Ferguson at the Attorney General’s Office before he appointed her. Bloom is up against Chief Justice Debra Stephens, whom former Gov. Christine Gregoire first appointed back in 2007.
“The urgent measure of these judges is: will they be independent, or will they be a rubber stamp on these immoral schemes being hatched by Gov. Ferguson, [Attorney General] Nick Brown, [Sen.] Jamie Pedersen and [Solicitor General] Noah Purcell to subvert the state Constitution,” Walsh said of the new income tax.
WAGOP’s “recommendation” of Colberg comes as Melody also faces another challenger, Seattle-based tax attorney Scott Edwards, who previously challenged Washington’s capital gains tax. Walsh said she was more responsive to the party’s vetting committee, which he said didn’t have much time to decide.
In Bloom’s case, Walsh said he had more experience in the Republican Party than Karim Merchant and David Shelvey, who are also running against Stephens. Merchant says he’s the guy who could balance out the left-leaning bench, and Shelvey has expressed direct opposition to the state’s new income tax.
The income tax, which Supreme Court precedent has essentially barred for nearly 100 years, is one of the top issues voters are considering this year. A constitutional challenge is expected to reach the high court in the next year or so, as Ferguson’s new appointees mount high-profile bids to keep their seats.
Melody has donated to Ferguson, Brown and Purcell’s campaigns in the past and has the support of all three. WAGOP and Colberg have raised concerns about the relationships, given that the AGO will likely be responsible for defending the income tax if the lawsuit eventually reaches the state Supreme Court.
“If I were in the shoes of Justice Melody, and I had worked closely with the now-governor, and the governor signed legislation that’s now before me, I wouldn’t be comfortable trying to evaluate that case because of the appearance of a conflict,” Colberg told The Center Square in a June 16 interview.
Larson is campaigning against Justice Theo Angelis, who also joined the court this year after working with Ferguson and donating to his campaigns in the past. Neither appointee would commit to recusing themselves from a future income tax lawsuit when asked by The Center Square in recent interviews.
Both claimed that their ties to Ferguson and income tax supporters wouldn’t impact their impartiality.
Melody also rejected the notion that Washington state has a partisan judiciary and suggested that the methodology used in studies analyzing campaign funding and the bench’s left-leaning tilt was flawed.
Meanwhile, the Washington State Democratic Party has somewhat leaned into the partisan framing of this year’s Supreme Court elections, openly acknowledging the liberal makeup of the current justices.
At the recent Spokane convention, WA Dems Chair Shasti Conrad said the party needs to hold the line.
“This year, … we are going to protect a progressive majority on our state Supreme Court, and we are going to expand our majorities in Olympia, yes, maybe even supermajorities,” Conrad told delegates.
Walsh frames WAGOP’s support as recommendations rather than endorsements to avoid stepping over the line in a nonpartisan race, though many incumbents highlight endorsements from current justices.
He said Conrad “let the mask slip” and referred to the appointees as “rubber-stamped political hacks.”
While WA Dems hasn’t announced formal endorsements for any Supreme Court candidates so far, Democratic officials, districts and county parties have endorsed some of the incumbent justices.
“Conrad, as usual, stepped on the rake. It’s important to keep an independent judiciary,” Walsh said.
The only seat that WAGOP hasn’t selected a candidate for is that of Position 4, where Justice Charles Johnson must step aside after reaching the mandatory retirement age of 75 in the state Constitution.
Ian Birk, a Washington Court of Appeals Division I judge, and Sean O’Donnell, a King County Superior Court judge, will both appear on the ballot for Position 4 this fall without a third candidate in the race.
Walsh said WAGOP may back a Position 4 candidate after the primary and is leaning toward O’Donnell.