PHOENIX — Maricopa County's voters appear to have chosen not to retain three judges serving on the bench in Superior Court.
With the large majority of ballots having been tabulated, results show at least three judges who were up for retention this year likely won't be returning to the bench.
Judge Stephen Hopkins received over 600,000 "No" retention votes as of Tuesday night, the most received out of all the judges up for retention in the county.
Hopkins, who was appointed to Superior Court in 2015, was reprimanded in 2020 for unruly courtroom behavior. Superior Court judges are responsible for presiding over felony criminal cases, civil lawsuits, and family court matters.
Out of the 72 judges up for retention this year in Arizona, Hopkins was notably the only one who was found to "not meet performance standards" by the Arizona Commission on Judicial Performance Review.
The commission evaluates judges during every election year by surveying attorneys and other legal professionals.
Judge Howard Sukenic was also losing his retention vote by a 60-40 ratio. Nine members of the state commission voted Sukenic as not meeting judicial standards.
Judge Rusty Crandell, who was appointed to the bench by Gov. Doug Ducey a couple of years ago, has an unlikely chance of getting retained after receiving over 487,000 "No" votes. As of Wednesday, Crandell was losing by a 52-48 ratio.
Since trial court judges are appointed by the governor, citizens have the chance to kick them off the bench every few years. It's generally been quite rare for Arizona voters to not retain a judge since the state adopted its retention system in the 1970s.
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