Beth Baker
2011 - Present
2026
13
Beth Baker is a judge of the Montana Supreme Court. She assumed office on January 3, 2011. Her current term ends on December 31, 2026.
Baker ran for re-election for judge of the Montana Supreme Court. She won in the retention election on November 6, 2018.
Baker completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2018. Click here to read the survey answers.
Baker became a member of the court through a nonpartisan election. She ran for the seat that William Leaphart vacated on the Montana Supreme Court in 2010. To read more about judicial selection in Montana, click here.
In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship, a study examining the partisan affiliation of all state supreme court justices in the country. As part of this study, we assigned each justice a Confidence Score describing our confidence in the degree of partisanship exhibited by the justices' past partisan behavior, before they joined the court.[1] Baker received a confidence score of Mild Democrat.[2] Click here to read more about this study.
Education
Baker received her undergraduate degree from the University of Washington in 1982 and her J.D. from the University of Montana School of Law in 1985.[3] She began her legal career as a law clerk for U.S. District Court Judge Charles Lovell in 1985. From 1989 to 2000, Baker served as assistant attorney general, and from 2000 to her election to the Montana Supreme Court, she was an attorney at Hughes, Kellner, Sullivan and Alke, PLLP.[4][5] She was vice president of the Montana Justice Foundation and won the Professionalism Award from the State Bar of Montana in 2006.[3]
Elections
2018
- See also: Montana Supreme Court elections, 2018
General election
General election for Montana Supreme Court
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Beth Baker (Nonpartisan)  | 83.3 | 369,877 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 16.7 | 74,126 | ||
| Total votes: 444,003 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Endorsements
In 2018, Baker received the following endorsements:[6]
- Former Montana Supreme Court Justice Patricia O'Brien Cotter
- Former Montana Supreme Court Justice James M. Regnier
- Former Montana Supreme Court Justice W. William Leaphart
- Former Montana Supreme Court Justice John Warner
- Former Montana Supreme Court Justice James C. Nelson
- Montana Chamber of Commerce
- Montana Federation of Public Employees
Selection method
- See also: Nonpartisan elections
The seven justices of the Montana Supreme Court are selected in nonpartisan elections to eight-year terms. When their term expires, they must run for re-election (or retention if they are unopposed) if they wish to continue serving.[7] In the event of a midterm vacancy, the governor is responsible for appointing a new judge from a list compiled by the Montana Judicial Nominating Commission. Once confirmed by the Montana Senate, the judge holds office until the next general election, when he or she will be able to run for re-election to complete the remainder of the unexpired term.[7][8]
Qualifications
To serve on this court, a judge must be:
- a U.S. citizen;
- a state resident for at least two years; and
- licensed to practice law in the state for at least five years.[7]
Selection of the chief justice
The court's chief justice is chosen by popular vote during the regular campaign cycle. He or she serves in that capacity for a full eight-year term.[7]
2010
- Main article: Montana judicial elections, 2010
Baker ran for the seat that William Leaphart vacated on the Montana Supreme Court in 2010. She ran against Nels Swandal and won with 52.23 percent of the vote.[9]
She cited her reasons for running as including her 25 years of experience in the legal system and "the struggles of people who do not understand their legal rights and have no idea where to turn, because they can’t afford an attorney. As a justice on Montana's highest court, I will continue my work to make equality under the law a reality."[4]
Campaign advertisements
Analysis
Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship (2020)
Last updated: June 15, 2020
In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship, a study examining the partisan affiliation of all state supreme court justices in the country as of June 15, 2020.
The study presented Confidence Scores that represented our confidence in each justice's degree of partisan affiliation. This was not a measure of where a justice fell on an ideological spectrum, but rather a measure of how much confidence we had that a justice was or had been affiliated with a political party. The scores were based on seven factors, including but not limited to party registration.[10]
The five resulting categories of Confidence Scores were:
- Strong Democrat
- Mild Democrat
- Indeterminate[11]
- Mild Republican
- Strong Republican
This justice's Confidence Score, as well as the factors contributing to that score, is presented below. The information below was current as of June 2020.
Beth
Baker
Montana
- Partisan Confidence Score:
Mild Democrat - Judicial Selection Method:
Elected - Key Factors:
- Donated less than $2,000 to Democratic candidates
- Received donations from Democrat-affiliated individuals or organizations
- Endorsed by Democratic-affiliated individuals or organizations
Partisan Profile
Details:
Baker donated $678 to Democratic candidates. She received campaign donations from the Montana Conservation Voters and Northwest Energy, both of which contribute to Democratic campaigns more frequently than Republicans. She was endorsed by NARAL Pro-Choice Montana.
Bonica and Woodruff campaign finance scores (2012)
In October 2012, political science professors Adam Bonica and Michael Woodruff of Stanford University attempted to determine the partisan ideology of state supreme court justices. They created a scoring system in which a score above 0 indicated a more conservative-leaning ideology, while scores below 0 were more liberal.
Baker received a campaign finance score of -1.13, indicating a liberal ideological leaning. This was more liberal than the average score of -0.87 that justices received in Montana.
The study was based on data from campaign contributions by the judges themselves, the partisan leaning of those who contributed to the judges' campaigns, or, in the absence of elections, the ideology of the appointing body (governor or legislature). This study was not a definitive label of a justice, but an academic summary of various relevant factors.[12]
Noteworthy cases
Noteworthy cases may be selected due to their impact on legal precedent, substantial media attention, or overlaps with another area of editorial interest at Ballotpedia. To suggest cases we should cover here, email us.
State supreme court judicial selection in Montana
- See also: Judicial selection in Montana
The seven justices on the Montana Supreme Court are selected through nonpartisan elections to eight-year terms. When their terms expire, justices must run for re-election if they wish to remain on the court. If unopposed, a justice must stand for a yes-no retention election.[13][14]
Qualifications
To serve on this court, a judge must be:
- a U.S. citizen;
- a state resident for at least two years; and
- licensed to practice law in the state for at least five years.[13]
Chief justice
The chief justice of the court is selected through a nonpartisan election to an eight-year term.[13]
Vacancies
In the event of a midterm vacancy, the governor is responsible for appointing a new justice to the court. Once confirmed by the Montana state Senate, the justice will hold office until the next regular election. At that time, the appointed justice will be able to run for re-election or retention to complete the remainder of the unexpired term.[14]
The map below highlights how vacancies are filled in state supreme courts across the country.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ We calculated confidence scores by collecting several data points such as party registration, donations, and previous political campaigns.
- ↑ The five possible confidence scores were: Strong Democrat, Mild Democrat, Indeterminate, Mild Republican, and Strong Republican.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Montana Courts, "Justice Beth Baker"
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Billings Gazette, "Helena attorney announces bid for high court position," February 4, 2010
- ↑ Billings Gazette, "Baker to run for state Supreme Court," February 4, 2010
- ↑ Beth Baker 2018 campaign website, “Endorsements,” accessed October 23, 2018
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Montana," accessed July 31, 2014
- ↑ Montana Constitution
- ↑ Montana Secretary of State, "Unofficial Results, Nov. 2010"
- ↑ The seven factors were party registration, donations made to partisan candidates, donations made to political parties, donations received from political parties or bodies with clear political affiliation, participation in political campaigns, the partisanship of the body responsible for appointing the justice, and state trifecta status when the justice joined the court.
- ↑ An Indeterminate score indicates that there is either not enough information about the justice’s partisan affiliations or that our research found conflicting partisan affiliations.
- ↑ Stanford University, "State Supreme Court Ideology and 'New Style' Judicial Campaigns," October 31, 2012
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 National Center for State Courts, "Methods of Judicial Selection," accessed August 11, 2021
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Montana State Legislature, "The Constitution of the state of Montana," accessed August 11, 2021 (Article VII, part VII, section 8)
Federal courts:
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: District of Montana • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: District of Montana
State courts:
Montana Supreme Court • Montana District Courts • Montana Courts of Limited Jurisdiction • Montana Water Court • Montana Workers' Compensation Court
State resources:
Courts in Montana • Montana judicial elections • Judicial selection in Montana
