All 37 appellate, district and juvenile court judges on Utah election ballots Tuesday were returned to the bench with overwhelming votes of support.
Under the Utah Constitution, judges run unopposed and require a simple majority for retention. The judges easily topped that threshold, averaging over 75 percent "yes" votes.Three of the five Utah Supreme Court justices were on ballots statewide this year - Leonard H. Russon, I. Daniel Stewart and Michael D. Zimmerman. All three received yes votes from 82 percent of the voters.
Russon, a 1962 graduate of the University of Utah College of Law, was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1994. Before that, he served four years on the Court of Appeals where he was associate presiding judge, and six years as a 3rd District judge.
Stewart, also a 1962 U. law school graduate, was in private practice with the firm of Jones, Waldo, Holbrook & McDonough before his appointment to the bench in 1979.
Zimmerman, a 1969 U. graduate, also taught law and was in private practice before his appointment to the bench in 1984. He served as chief justice from 1994 to 1998.
Utah Court of Appeals Judge Michael J. Wilkins was also on ballots statewide, and he, too, received 82 percent yes votes. A 1977 U. graduate, Wilkins is the associate presiding judge of the court.
All of the state court judges went into Tuesday's election with favorable performance ratings from attorney and juror surveys and had the endorsement of the Judicial Council.
The 39 justice court judges on local ballots also won their retention elections. The justice court judges, who are not necessarily lawyers and handle only minor offenses, were not rated prior to the election.
Judicial retention
Utah Supreme Court
1,034 of 1,036 precincts
Leonard H. Russon
Yes 325,758 82% No 69,915 18%
I. Daniel Stewart
Yes 324,486 82% No 69,378 18%
Michael D. Zimmerman
Yes 324,078 82% No 70,352 18%
Utah Court of Appeals
1,037 of 1,052 precincts
Michael J. Wilkins
Yes 323,170 82% No 68,803 18%
1st Judicial District
Box Elder, Cache and Rich counties
112 of 112 precincts
Clint S. Judkins
Yes 21,410 86% No 3,497 14%
2nd Judicial District
Davis, Weber and Morgan counties
364 of 364 precincts
Michael G. Allphin
Yes 63,166 83% No 12,792 17%
Glen R. Dawson
Yes 63,608 84% No 12,435 16%
Roger S. Dutson
Yes 62,812 82% No 13,384 18%
Pamela G. Hefferman
Yes 62,529 82% No 13,906 18%
Stanton M. Taylor
Yes 62,779 82% No 12,407 18%
J. Mark Andrus, Juvenile Court
Yes 64,633 85% No 11,789 15%
L. Kent Bachman, Juvenile Court
Yes 64,780 85% No 11,752 15%
3rd Judicial District
Salt Lake, Summit and Tooele counties
736 of 736 precincts
Judith S.H. Atherton
Yes 145,366 80% No 36,858 20%
Leon A. Dever
Yes 138,685 77% No 40,676 23%
Stephen L. Henriod
Yes 135,833 75% No 44,528 25%
Robert K. Hilder
Yes 141,075 78% No 39,316 22%
Ronald E. Nehring
Yes 138,696 78% No 39,308 22%
Roger A. Livingston
Yes 140,733 78% No 38,990 22%
Sandra N. Peuler
Yes 141,654 79% No 36,968 21%
Frederic M. Oddone, Juvenile Court
Yes 137,902 77% No 40,067 23%
Sharon P. McCully, Juvenile Court
Yes 142,718 80% No 36,659 20%
Robert S. Yeates, Juvenile Court
Yes 142,964 79% No 37,473 21%
Kimberly K. Hornak, Juvenile Court
Yes 141,983 79% No 36,805 21%
Joseph W. Anderson, Juvenile Court
Yes 140,306 79% No 37,931 21%
4th Judicial District
Utah, Wasatch, Juab and Millard counties
244 of 255 precincts
Ray M. Harding Jr.
Yes 47,232 84% No 8,865 16%
Fred D. Howard
Yes 48,006 87% No 7,368 13%
Howard H. Maetani
Yes 47,426 85% No 8,256 15%
Donald J. Eyre Jr
Yes 48,258 86% No 7,593 14%
Leslie D. Brown, Juvenile Court
Yes 48,546 87% No 7,093 13%
Sterling B. Sainsbury, Juvenile Court
Yes 46,665 84% No 8,575 16%
Jeril B. Wilson, Juvenile Court
Yes 48,204 87% No 7,138 13%
5th Judicial District
Washington, Iron and Beaver counties
110 of 110 precincts
G. Rand Beacham
Yes 19,143 87% No 2,904 13%
Hans Q. Chamberlain, Juvenile Court
Yes 19,570 87% No 2,819 13%
Joseph E. Jackson, Juvenile Court
Yes 19,644 87% No 2,891 13%
6th Judicial District
Sevier, Sanpete, Garfield, Kane, Wayne and Piute counties
84 of 84 precincts
K.L. McIff
Yes 10,793 82% No 2,347 18%
7th Judicial District
Carbon, Emery, Grand and San Juan counties
60 of 60 precincts
Bryce K. Bryner
Yes 10,616 84% No 2,082 16%
8th Judicial District
Uintah, Duchesne and Daggett counties
37 of 38 precincts
A. Lynn Payne Jr.
Yes 7,338 84% No 1,381 16%