Minnesota

https://www.minnpost.com/politics-policy/2016/08/minnesota-supreme-court-primary-may-be-most-important-election-nobodys-heard
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Historically speaking, Minnesota Supreme Court justices running for re-election don’t have a whole lot to worry about: An incumbent hasn’t lost a re-election bid since the 1940s.

But some supporters of incumbent Associate Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Natalie Hudson worry that this year could be different.

On Aug. 9, Hudson faces two challengers in her bid to serve again on the state’s highest court: attorney Craig Foss, who says he’s running because he can’t find a job, and attorney Michelle MacDonald, who ran an unsuccessful bid for the state’s highest court in 2014 that MinnPost’s Doug Grow called “one of the most bizarre campaigns in state history.”

Of the three candidates running for the slot, Hudson is the only one with experience as an elected judge — and the only one actively fundraising for her campaign to retain her seat, according state campaign finance records.

But those efforts may not matter: In this primary, only the top two vote getters’ names will advance to the general ballot. With no other statewide primary on the ballot, voter turnout in general is expected to be low — and in judicial elections, the number of people voting always tends to be lower.

What this means for the Supreme Court race: The random choices of a very small number of voters — or a determined effort by a small group of activists — could have outsized influence on the result, and could even cut Hudson out of the general election.