Ms. Magazine: From North Carolina to Wisconsin, State Supreme Courts Are Political Battlegrounds
This excerpt is from a piece that originally ran on August 19, 2026.
Alliance for Justice, a progressive advocacy organization focused on federal and state courts, has identified seven states in advance of the 2026 midterms—Michigan, Ohio, North Carolina, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, New York—at “pivotal turning points,” where upcoming judicial elections and major cases could reshape the balance of power on issues including voting rights, redistricting and civil liberties.
In total, 32 states are holding state supreme court elections in 2026, with 63 of the 344 seats on state supreme courts up for election. The outcomes could incrementally alter the ideological makeup of courts in states currently in play and lay the groundwork for future shifts in control.
In the wake of recent efforts to further weaken the Voting Rights Act and as state courts take on a larger role in voting-rights disputes, civil rights protections are increasingly being shaped at the state level.