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Per-judge retention calls inside
The ballot
Kansas Supreme Court justices are chosen by merit selection: a nine-member nominating commission sends three names to the governor, who appoints. A new justice stands for retention after the first year, then every six years — an uncontested yes-or-no question. A majority of YES votes retains; a majority of NO votes removes the justice when the term ends. The election is November 3, 2026.
Two justices are on the ballot: Chief Justice Eric S. Rosen and Justice Larkin Walsh.
Kansas has no state judicial-performance commission for appellate judges. The evaluation evidence is the Kansas Bar Association's 2026 Judicial Review Survey, in which attorneys with first-hand professional experience of each justice rate performance and answer the retention question directly. The figures below are the share of surveyed attorneys recommending retention, as published by the KBA and reported by the Johnson County Post.
Context voters should have: in August 2026 Kansas voters rejected, 61–39, a constitutional amendment that would have replaced this system with elections for Supreme Court justices starting in 2028. The system on this ballot is the one voters just voted to keep. Ballotpedia News reported early in the cycle that Kansas "has been known for some anti-retention efforts in recent years, but nothing is on the horizon so far this cycle" — our research found no organized campaign against either justice, and no Kansas justice has ever lost a retention vote since the system began in 1958.
Chief Justice Eric S. Rosen
- Appointed by: Governor Kathleen Sebelius, 2005. On the Supreme Court 21 years; he is the court's Chief Justice. Before elevation he served 12½ years as a district court judge in the 3rd Judicial District (Topeka), after private practice and service as a Shawnee County assistant district attorney; he has also instructed at the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center. Washburn law degree; University of Kansas undergraduate.
- Evaluation: Kansas Bar Association 2026 survey — 88% of attorneys with first-hand experience recommend retention.
- Credits: Two decades on the court and its chief-justice leadership, atop a full trial-judge career; an 88% retention recommendation from the lawyers who practice before him.
- Dirt: None documented. No disciplinary record, ethics finding, or organized anti-retention campaign appears in our research. Criticism of the merit-selection system itself exists (see context above) — that is an argument about the institution, and Kansas voters settled it in August; it is not a record against this justice.
Justice Larkin Walsh
- Appointed by: Governor Laura Kelly, 2025. On the court one year — this is her first retention vote, the early check Kansas law builds in for every new justice. Before appointment she clerked for the Kansas Supreme Court (2005–2008, and again in 2013), clerked for the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas (2008–2012), and then practiced in private practice in the Kansas City metro. University of Kansas law degree.
- Evaluation: Kansas Bar Association 2026 survey — 91% recommend retention, the highest figure on the Kansas appellate slate.
- Credits: A career spent inside Kansas appellate practice — two stretches clerking for the very court she now sits on — and the strongest bar rating of the cycle.
- Dirt: None documented. A one-year record is a short record, and we print it as short — but short is unproven, not a demerit, and the evidence that exists (91% from the attorneys who have seen her work) points one way.
OUR CALL
Our rule: Retain is the verdict for a judge with a serviceable documented record; removal requires proven cause — documented misconduct, proven activist judging that breaks faith with the law, or an evaluation failure. Both justices carry strong bar-survey recommendations; neither carries any documented adverse record.
Retain: Eric S. Rosen, Larkin Walsh. Do not retain: none.
For the complete Election 2026 breakdown — every race, claim by claim — see the full coverage on our website. Vote early. Research your candidates. Choose the best moderates, whatever their party — no extremism from either side. And encourage your friends and family to do the same. --- Sources - Kansas Bar Association — Judicial Retention Surveys, 2026 results (Rosen and Walsh seeking retention; survey methodology) — https://ksbar.org/?pg=Retention-Surveys - Johnson County Post, October 14, 2026 — judicial retention guide (Rosen appointed 2005 by Sebelius, 88% retention recommendation; Walsh appointed 2025 by Kelly, 91%; August amendment rejected 61–39) — https://johnsoncountypost.com/2026/10/14/johnson-county-judicial-retention-vote-explainer-298550/ - Ballotpedia News, January 15, 2026 — early look at 2026 supreme-court retention (Kansas: no anti-retention effort on the horizon) — https://news.ballotpedia.org/2026/01/15/an-early-look-at-state-supreme-court-retention-elections-this-year/ - Bolts, 2026 — Kansas appointment fights and the rejected amendment — https://boltsmag.org/kansas-supreme-court-ballot-measure-defeat-and-new-judicial-appointments/
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.