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Per-judge retention calls inside

The ballot

Iowa judges are appointed by the governor from judicial nominating commission nominees and then face statewide yes-or-no retention votes — a majority of YES votes retains the judge for a new term (six years for the Court of Appeals). Retention is not a referendum on single rulings: it asks whether the judge still has the merit and qualifications they were appointed with, or has done something that warrants removal. The election is November 3, 2026. Three of the nine Court of Appeals judges are up; every Iowa voter votes on all three. No Iowa Supreme Court justice is up in 2026.

Iowa's evaluation is the Iowa State Bar Association's judicial performance review (plebiscite): the lawyers who appear before each judge grade them 1–5 on knowledge of the law, courtesy, clarity of writing, impartiality, and treatment of all litigants equally, and answer yes or no on retention. In 2026, 964 Iowa lawyers took part. All three judges below scored between 4.2 and 4.6 in every graded category — the review's own analysts note there are "no red flags," in pointed contrast to 2024, when one Court of Appeals judge on the ballot scored far below the others. The per-judge retention percentages are the evaluation evidence, and they are printed per judge.

Judge John M. Sandy (Spirit Lake)

Appointed by: Governor Kim Reynolds, June 2024 — to the Court of Appeals after three years as a district court judge. ISBA plebiscite: 87.8% of responding attorneys recommend retention — the lowest of the three, and still a seven-to-one endorsement; his lowest category score was 4.2 of 5.

Record: The newest judge in this guide: roughly two years of appellate service on top of his trial-bench term. A short file is the expected file for a 2024 appointee, and what it contains is uniformly favorable — no category below 4.2, no adverse news, discipline, or organized campaign located in this research. Retain.

Judge Julie Schumacher (Schleswig/Denison)

Appointed by: Governor Kim Reynolds, August 2019 — after five years as a district associate judge and two as a district judge. ISBA plebiscite: 92.7% recommend retention — the highest of the three; her lowest category score was 4.3 of 5.

Record: Seven years on the Court of Appeals atop seven years on the trial bench — the deepest combined service file in this guide. Attorneys grading her put every category between good and excellent. No adverse record, discipline, or organized campaign located in this research. Retain.

Judge Sharon Soorholtz Greer (Marshalltown)

Appointed by: Governor Kim Reynolds, April 2019 — from private practice. ISBA plebiscite: 90.9% recommend retention; she averaged at least 4.4 of 5 in every graded category, the strongest category profile of the three.

Record: Seven years of appellate service. The bar review's analysts single her scores out as the slate's steadiest — no category dips, which is what a performance review is for. No adverse record, discipline, or organized campaign located in this research. Retain.

OUR CALL

Retain — all three: John M. Sandy, Julie Schumacher, and Sharon Soorholtz Greer.

Our standard is the same in every state in this coverage: Retain for a serviceable documented record; Do Not Retain requires proven cause — documented misconduct, proven activist judging, or an evaluation failure. Iowa runs one of the country's most direct evaluations — the lawyers who practice before these judges, grading named categories — and all three judges passed it at 87.8%, 92.7%, and 90.9%, with no category anywhere on the slate below 4.2 of 5. The dirt column for all three is empty at the proven standard: this research worked the bar review, the Des Moines Register's retention guide, and independent Iowa political coverage, and found no misconduct, no discipline, and no organized removal campaign against any of them. When the evaluation a state actually offers comes back this clean, Retain is not a default — it is the verdict the evidence returns.

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Sources

Election result — November 4, 2026

Result pending. No verified call (Associated Press or official) as of November 4, 2026. This page will be updated when the race is called or certified. The original article above is unchanged.

AI-assisted article — but the sources are human, and the facts are very real.

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