Chris Garrett
2019 - Present
2027
5
Chris Garrett is a judge for Position 4 of the Oregon Supreme Court. He assumed office on January 1, 2019. His current term ends on January 4, 2027.
Garrett ran in a special election for the Position 4 judge of the Oregon Supreme Court. He won in the special general election on November 3, 2020.
Garrett was first appointed to the Oregon Supreme Court by Gov. Kate Brown (D) on December 24, 2018, to fill the vacancy left by retiring Justice Rives Kistler. His appointment was effective January 1, 2019.[1] He was subsequently elected to the court in a nonpartisan election in 2020. To read more about judicial selection in Oregon, click here
Garrett was previously a judge on the Oregon Court of Appeals, Position 1, from 2014 to 2018. He was appointed to the appellate court by Governor John Kitzhaber (D) on December 24, 2013, to succeed Judge David Schuman. Garrett took the bench on February 1, 2014.[2] He was elected to the court in May 2014 for a six-year term.
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.[3] Garrett received a confidence score of Strong Democrat.[4] Click here to read more about this study.
Biography
Garrett received an undergraduate degree from Reed College and a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School.[2] Prior to his appointment to the Oregon Supreme Court, he served as a judge on the Oregon Court of Appeals from 2014 to 2018 and as a representative in the Oregon House of Representatives from 2009 to 2013. His professional experience included working as a civil litigator with Perkins Coie LLP from 2002 to 2013 and clerking for Judge Dennis Jacobs of the United States Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit from 2001 to 2002.[1][2]
Elections
2020
See also: Oregon Supreme Court elections, 2020
General election
Special general election for Oregon Supreme Court Position 4
Incumbent Chris Garrett won election in the special general election for Oregon Supreme Court Position 4 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Chris Garrett (Nonpartisan) | 97.3 | 1,366,654 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 2.7 | 38,206 | ||
| Total votes: 1,404,860 | |||
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Nonpartisan primary election
The primary election was canceled. Incumbent Chris Garrett advanced from the special primary for Oregon Supreme Court Position 4.
2014
- See also: Oregon judicial elections, 2014
Garrett ran for re-election to the Oregon Court of Appeals. He was elected without opposition in the primary on May 20, 2014.[5]
2012
Garrett won re-election in the 2012 election for the Oregon House of Representatives District 38. Garrett was unopposed in the May 15 Democratic primary and defeated Tom Maginnis (R) in the general election, which took place on November 6, 2012.[5]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic |  Chris Garrett Incumbent |
68.6% | 24,017 | |
| Republican | Tom Maginnis | 31.4% | 10,984 | |
| Total Votes | 35,001 | |||
2010
Garrett won re-election to District 38 in 2010. He had no primary opposition but was challenged by Rob Gardier in the general election which took place on November 2, 2010.[5]
| Oregon State House, District 38 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | |||
| Chris Garrett (D)
|
16,815 | |||
| Rob Gardier (R) | 10,957 | |||
2008
On November 4, 2008, Garrett was elected to Oregon State House District 38.[5]
| Oregon State House District 38 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | |||
| Chris Garrett (D)
|
19,325 | |||
| Griffith (R) | 11,878 | |||
| Misc. | 43 | |||
Campaign themes
2020
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Chris Garrett did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
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.[6]
The five resulting categories of Confidence Scores were:
- Strong Democrat
- Mild Democrat
- Indeterminate[7]
- 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.
Chris
Garrett
Oregon
- Partisan Confidence Score:
Strong Democrat - Judicial Selection Method:
Elected - Key Factors:
- Was a registered Democrat as of 2020
- Donated over $2,000 to Democratic candidates
- Held political office as a Democrat
Partisan Profile
Details:
Garrett was appointed by Gov. Kate Brown (D) to fill a vacancy. He was a registered Democrat at the time of his appointment. He donated $11,041 to Democratic candidates. From 2009 to 2013 he served as a Democratic Representative in the Oregon House of Representatives. He received $7,456 from the Oregon House Democratic Campaign Committee, and $7,170 from the Oregon Climate PAC. He was endorsed by NARAL Pro-Choice Oregon.
State legislative tenure
Committee assignments
2013-2014
At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, Garrett served on the following committees:
| Oregon committee assignments, 2013 |
|---|
| • Judiciary, Vice Chair |
| • Legislative Administration |
| • Rules, Chair |
2011-2012
In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Garrett served on these committees:
| Oregon committee assignments, 2011 |
|---|
| • Judiciary, Vice Chair |
| • Joint Legislative Counsel |
| • Rules |
2009-2010
In the 2009-2010 legislative session, Garrett served on these committees:
| Oregon committee assignments, 2009 |
|---|
| • Judiciary |
| • Justice System Revenues |
| • Sustainability and Economic Development |
State supreme court judicial selection in Oregon
- See also: Judicial selection in Oregon
The seven justices on the Oregon Supreme Court are selected through nonpartisan elections.[8] Judges' terms begin on the first Monday in January following their election.[9]
Judges serve six-year terms. Judges seeking to serve more than one term must stand for re-election.[8]
Qualifications
To serve on this court, a judge must be:
- a U.S. citizen;
- a state resident for at least three years;
- a state bar member; and
- under the age of 75.[8]
Chief justice
The chief justice is selected by peer vote and serves in that capacity for a six-year term.
Vacancies
If a midterm vacancy occurs on the court, the governor appoints a replacement. The appointee serves until the next general election occurring 61 or more days after the vacancy, at which point he or she may run for election.[8] The map below highlights how vacancies are filled in state supreme courts across the country.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Oregon.gov, "Governor Brown Appoints Chris Garrett to the Oregon Supreme Court," December 24, 2018
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Statesman Journal, "Legislator appointed to Court of Appeals", December 24, 2013
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Oregon Secretary of State, "Election Results," accessed July 7, 2021
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Oregon," archived October 3, 2014
- ↑ Oregon State Legislature, "Oregon Constitution," accessed August 29, 2014
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Rives Kistler |
Oregon Supreme Court Position 4 2019-Present |
Succeeded by - |
| Preceded by David Schuman |
Oregon Court of Appeals Position 1 2014-2018 |
Succeeded by - |
| Preceded by - |
Oregon House of Representatives District 38 2009-2013 |
Succeeded by Ann Lininger (D) |
Federal courts:
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: District of Oregon • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: District of Oregon
State courts:
Oregon Supreme Court • Oregon Court of Appeals • Oregon Circuit Courts • Oregon Tax Court • Oregon County Courts • Oregon Justice Courts • Oregon Municipal Courts
State resources:
Courts in Oregon • Oregon judicial elections • Judicial selection in Oregon
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