Judges who want a second or subsequent term run for retention, essentially in a race against themselves. Meanwhile, associate judges, who serve at the circuit court level, are chosen by the elected circuit court judges. The Supreme Court makes interim appointments at all three levels of the court system to fill vacancies. The retention election, a device designed to satisfy voters' desire to play a role in selection without risking improper political influence on a sitting judge, differs most from nonjudicial elections. Candidates for retention run unopposed on the ballot and voters simply choose whether to retain them.
Several states use that system.
Though retention races are officially uncontested, in recent years some of those races have attracted big money. And in Illinois this year, Supreme Court Justice Charles E. Freeman may face an anti-retention campaign following controversial judicial appointments he made in Cook County. He has hired a public relations firm to advise him. Efforts to reform the judicial election system rest on the assumption that, though judges run for office like other politicians, they should be held to a higher standard. They are not democratic representatives like legislators and governors.